Waking Up From the Dream
by WaterLotusBloom
Summary: Kallen disappearing from the Stigma Dimension leads to a series of events that leads the girls to enter a land hidden from reality. Consequences will ensue, for some things are never meant to be understood, much less messed with.
1. Prolouge

Yae Sakura hummed to herself while roasting some freshly caught fish. The fresh smell of the meat calmed the shrine maiden. The log was not the most comfortable thing in the world to sit on, but there was worse. Seeing how the fish was more or less done cooking, she began taking them away from the fire and onto a cooling rack.

A pair of hands covered her eyes, leaving her in a world of darkness. "Guess who?"

Sakura chuckled, knowing exactly who it was. "Kallen, there's only the two of us in this world. It can't be anyone else."

The hands removed themselves, reintroducing light into Sakura's world, and a pouting Kallen, who had changed back into her nun outfit from her thief one. She didn't really have anything left to steal. She already had Sakura's heart. "You could've at least played along. What if it was a honkai beast?"

"I'm the 12th Herrscher, remember?" Sakura reminded her of her current identity, the two extremely long fox ears sticking out from her hair. "Being aware of honkai beasts is part of my abilities."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're such a spoilsport." Kallen complained, sitting herself down next to Sakura. The former nun set down the herbs she had collected from the forest.

"Alright then. Now, let's get the scales off the fish- Oi! Don't eat the fish now!"

"But Sakura's roasted fish is just sooooo good!" Kallen exclaimed. "I'm gonna eat them all now!" The nun grabbed all the fish from the rack and shoved them all in her mouth. The poor girl struggled to try and chew the six or so fish that were crammed in her mouth.

"Kallen." Sakura said, getting the attention of the frantic Kallen. "If you eat all of the fish, what am I going to eat?"

Kallen stopped chewing, only then realizing her mishap. "Sowry."

"It's fine." Kallen reassured the nun. "I'll just catch more. It's not like there's a shortage of fish in this world. I can live without fish for a day." She just couldn't live without Kallen. She got up to go to the river. "Oh yeah, do you want anymore-" However, upon turning around, Kallen was gone.

"Kallen? If this is a joke, I'm not going to get you any fish." Sakura dropped her fishing equipment and walked back. Everything else was still there, even Kallen's half-eaten fish. All that was missing was the nun. Two could play the game. She concentrated, feeling all across her dream world, to only find no presence but herself. But that shouldn't be possible. She was in control of this world. If she couldn't sense Kallen, that meant she wasn't here. But if she wasn't here, then the only place she could be is-

"HIGOKUMARU! BRING ME INTO THE REAL WORLD!"


	2. Chapter 1

"Hey, Mei-senpai. What could've Auntie Theresa called us for?" Kiana cheerfully asked her self-determined soulmate. "Oh! Oh! Oh! Maybe Auntie finally decided to promote me to an A-rank valkyrie and tell me about my stupid pops!"

"Kiana." Mei chidded. "I remember the principal saying that you need to be better at your studies before you're qualified to be an A-rank valkyrie."

"Hmph! History is overrated. How is knowing every emperor of Japan going to help me?"

"Confirmed. Kiana's stupidity levels are so high that she doesn't comprehend the potential to be found in history. Extremely likely to be the reason for Kiana's inability to learn from mistakes."

"Hey! You wanna fight Bronya!?"

"Bronya calculates that Bronya has a 99.99% chance of winning if Bronya and stupid-head fought."

"I'll show you 99 point whatever percent!"

"Enough!" Fu Hua's voice cut into her little argument. "Cease your immature bickering. For all we know, we could be going to being briefed on a top secret mission. You should take this seriously." Luckily, her state of authority stopped the two from continuing their little squabble. Thanks to that, they made it to the principal office instead of the training arena.

"Miss Principal. We are-"

"I'm here, Auntie Theresa!" Kiana slammed the door, which she was greeted with a cross to the face.

"I told you, don't call me aunt when we're at school!" Theresa scolded. "Now come in. And bring the cross along with you too."

Recovering from receiving a six-foot metal cross to the face, Kiana made her way into the room. Everyone else had already sat down, Himeko standing to the side of her aunt, but Kiana noticed someone else, something that shouldn't be at this school, or even this world. Pink hair, long fox ears, a miko outfit.

"You!" Kiana cried out loud. "The lunatic, crazy, fire-spinning miko with fox ears!"

"Kiana." Mei said. "That's rude."

"Yes, it's me." Of course, the newcomer to the school was Yae Sakura. "You remember me."

"Well…" Kiana rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. "I did sort of...help kill you once...and met you around three or so times. Also kinda … beat the crap outta you the last time."

"Yes, I remember." Sakura said. "I must thank you for that."

"Good, so you two actually know each other." Theresa sighed, sipping her tea, since nobody would let her buy alcohol since she look like a 12 year-old. "So please explain what your problem is and have this idiot explain it to the rest of us, hopefully in a way that we all understand."

Sakura took a deep breath, calming her nerves before saying the two words that were hurting her heart. "Kallen's missing."

"What!?" Kiana exclaimed. "But isn't she like, part of your world, which like, isn't part of this world!?"

"Yes." Sakura answered. "That's why it's so befuddling."

"Befuddling?"

"Confusing." Mei answered for Kiana. "It means confusing. But, if you don't mind me asking, you're not referring to Kallen Kaslana, from 500 years ago, are you?"

"Yes, she is exactly the one I'm referring too."

"B-but isn't s-she d-de-de-" Mei suddenly fainted from her mind going overdrive of how to comprehend the situation.

"No! Mei-senpai! Don't die!" Kiana cried, pulling Mei into a hug and shedding an untold amount of tears.

"Well, my niece's antics aside." Theresa said. "I'm afraid I'm unable to help you search for a dead-"

"Principal Theresa!" A valkyrie burst into the office, panting hard. "The armory's been raided!"

"Impossible!" Theresa said. "The armory is the most well guarded part of the school. Not even an A-rank valkyrie can get through! An S-rank would triggered the alarms." She wasn't going to mention how Sakura came out of the armory, but she didn't take anything, so that wasn't it.

"But ma'am, someone did, and stole numerous weapons!"

Theresa sighed. It was time to face the facts rather than question them. "What did they steal?"

"Uh...there's the Blood Embrace."

"Uh-hm."

"Raikiri."

"Yes."

The 7th Sacred Relic."

"Sure."

"Judgement of Shamash."

"That one's been missing for a long while."

"uhh...Blood Dance."

"Yeah."

"Jizo Mitama."

"That's not missing."

"Uh… Jingwei's Wings."

"Seriously, if that's all we lost, it's not even worth the effort to go after them."

"And the Oath of Judah."

"ALL RIGHT! THAT'S IT! EVERYONE PACK IT UP! READY THE HYPERION! WE ARE TAKING THIS FIGHT TO THEM! LET'S MAKE THEM CRY MOTHER AND WISH THEY WERE FACING THE WRATH OF A HERRSCHER RATHER THAN FURY OF THERESA APOCALYPSE!" Theresa charged, likely to retrieve her second-favorite cross to deliver merciless vengeance justice upon the thief.

"...Let's go make sure she doesn't blow up half of Japan." Himeko commented. Everyone agreed.

…

"Alright. Despite my...enthusiasm earlier, this is a potentially very dangerous mission." Theresa explained to everyone as they were on board the Hyperion. "Whoever broke into the armory had a high possibility of being S-rank strength. Additionally, it could be a trap, given that I am tracking them through the tracer I put on the Oath of Judah. Although me and Himeko will be the vanguard, everyone else would still be in danger. Hence why everyone is in their most advanced battlesuits."

"Don't worry!" Kiana said as she raised her fist. "As a future S-rank valkyrie, I won't be done in by a potential S-rank!"

"Well, I have to watch over Kiana, so I suppose I have to go." Mei said.

"Bronya will go to prevent Kiana's stupidity from resulting in her potentially hilarious death."

"Hey!"

"I won't be much of a model student if I backed down now, would I?" Fu Hua commented.

"Well, a S-rank valkyrie isn't particularly a threat to me. After all, I'm the 12th-" Kiana quickly covered Sakura's mouth, preventing her from revealing that she was technically the 12th Herrscher. If that got out, then it would bring all of Schiskcal to their doorstep.

"Well, good to know. However, your first priority should always be your own safety. Cause you ain't going to do anything productive if you're dead. Now, prepare-"

"Commander, there's a humanoid figure, flying towards at 20 kilometers per hour, 12 o'clock. Orders?"

"Slow the ship down! Raise reactor output to 60%! Ready the guns, power the shields, and prepare for evasive maneuvers! And get me a visual!"

The screen popped in front of Theresa, showing a young woman with black hair tied into a ponytail with a large ribbon in a red-white miko outfit flying towards them. Theresa had considered that this girl was a Herrechser, which was the worst possible scenario. But she crossed that possibility since given the lack of Honkai energy and beasts. The woman wasn't a valkyrie either, given the lack of a battlesuit for flight. Which could only mean that she was a third party, likely not part of Schiskcal, given that she would know if natural flight had achieved, nor was she part of Anti-Entropy, given their love of mechs. Given the lack of energy disturbance, it was safe to assume that this newcomer isn't attacking them. In fact, she just floated above the ship, as if waiting for someone to come out and greet her.

"Halt the ship! Lower the shields! Himeko, come with me. Everyone else remain on standby. We're going to go greet this person."

Though reluctantly, the crew followed orders and stopped the ship. The newcomer floated down and landed on the deck of the ship, greeted by Theresa and Himeko, armed to the teeth, or cross.

"Who are you?" Theresa asked.

"I should be the one asking that." The girl bit back. "You're the one invading my home."

Theresa frowned, but her desire to get back the Oath of Judah, well the other things were important too, but not as much as that one, was far outweighing lashing out at the girl. "I'm Theresa Apocalypse, Principal of St. Freya High School."

"Okay, Theresa." The girl said. "Get your ship outta the sky before I blast it to pieces."

"What!?" Theresa exclaimed in shock. "That is unwarranted! Why would you attack us if we mean no harm to you!?"

The girl deadpanned. "Tell me what sort of message do you get when someone flies a 300 meter long ship with a dozen cannons straight into your home."

"I…" Theresa actually had no argument to that. She didn't know how else someone would interpret some stranger bringing a battleship into their home. However, she didn't want to lose out on the benefits the ship provided their operations.

"Now look little girl. I don't know who you are, but we are on important business here." Himeko chose then to interject. "I can promise you that we mean you no harm, so would you mind getting out of the way?"

"Empty promises." The woman replied. "I know better than to trust the words of old-looking woman."

"You're being really unreasonable right now." Himeko said with a hint of warning. "And I'm only 29."

"Really? I find myself quite reasonable amongst that bunch. And age is already a non-factor in my evaluation of threat level. Actually it is, but it's more like being unable to tell."

"You-"

"Excuse me." Sakura walked out from the bridge, interrupting whatever insult Himeko had planned. "I don't think violence will solve anything in this situation, Miss-"

"Reimu." The woman answered. "Reimu Hakurei. And I thought mikos died out in the outside world. Apparently not. Also violence tends to solve just about everything around here, so I disagree."

"Well, apologies, Hakurei-san." Sakura said. "I didn't mean to bring any trouble, and I'm sure no one else here did too. We are simply tracking some stolen items, and it has led us here. I assure you that once we find what we came for, we'll leave, and you'll never see us again."

Reimu took a good look at Sakura, then sighed in resignation. Apparently miko camaraderie was effective. "Alright then. I've seen enough lying over the years to tell that you're not lying. Even though you belong in the old hags category." She then turned back her head back and screamed. "Oi! Remi!"

Suddenly, a maid with silver hair popped up next to Reimu. "Did you need something of the Mistress?"

"Yeah." Reimu answered. "Of course she sent you Sakuya. Why am I not surprised? Now, go tell Remi to get ready to receive some guest. This ship should fit in the yard behind her mansion."

"Yes, I will convey your message."

"Also, tell her that if they do something that seems dangerous, throw a couple of Gungirs at the ship."

"Yes, I will." After that, Sakuya vanished, only to reappear a few moments later. "The mistress has decided to welcome you guys. Please set your ship in her backyard."

Though reluctantly, Theresa decided to accept the "hospitality" of these people. She didn't tell anyone yet, but the tracer on the Oath of Judah wasn't working properly, and for some reason it was only giving off a vague signal of where it was, creating a searching circle many kilometers wide. Reimu led the ship, by flying of course, through a range of mountains to a quite massive manor situated next to a lake. It seemed like one of those mansions of Victorian Era England. A courtyard in front with various flowers, three-floors with evenly spaced windows, and the shade of red that made up the entire building.

They landed the battleship in the spacious plain behind the mansion, keeping the reactor going, given that Reimu's character was suspicious, as was the teleporting maid. Though the maid did remind her of Rita.

"Alright then." Reimu got the attention of the St. Freya High group(everyone else came out when it was decided that they weren't in immediate danger). "Now Remi might be a little stuck up, but in general she's a nice person, if you don't piss her off. As long as you pretend to understand half the things she says and don't treat her the way she looks, she won't decide to suck your blood dry."

"Reimu." Sakuya interrupted, looking quite malicious if her glowing red eyes were anything to say. The couple of knives in her hand also said a lot. "Though it may be true, please do not speak so poorly of the mistress."

"So, it's just meeting someone right? I'm sure I can handle it." Theresa said confidently. It couldn't possibly be worse than the old geezer and the other higher ups at Schiskcal.

She was...probably right. Maybe? Hopefully? It's a matter of perspective really.

And that's how Theresa Apocalypse, granddaughter of Otto Apocalypse, principal of St. Freya High School, and S-rank valkyrie came face to face with Remilia Scarlet, self-proclaimed descendant of Vlad Tepes, mistress of the Scarlet Mansion, and the Eternal Young Scarlet Moon. It was certainly a face to face of a lifetime, given that no one else their age was their height and could look each other straight in the eye without having to look up or down, with their height of around four feet.

"You're a vampire." Theresa stated. Though part of her was not believing herself. Vampires were only of legends, but the fangs definitely proved otherwise.

"Yes, I am." Remilia answered. "And it seems you aren't entirely human."

"How did you know?" Theresa asked, a little bit of panic betraying her voice.

"Oh my, well, these things some people can just tell, which is quite a few people in this land, I must admit. I am not unique in that matter." Remilia answered. "But I suppose the big giveaway is that humans don't tend to look like they're 12 when they're in they're in their 40s."

"Wait, you're in your 40s auntie!?" Kiana exclaimed out loud, earning a facepalm from everyone else. "You're old." And she was cut off by a cross to the head.

"Anyways, we're here to look for our missing items." Theresa said, moving on from the talk about her age. "I'm afraid I can't give any details due to confidentiality, but surely you would know of if something of the magnitude of what was stolen ever crossed your sight."

"Hmm...well-"*crash* A massive laser pieced through one of the walls, blasting right in between the two parties, leaving a hole in the wall of which a blonde witch on a broom was zooming out, carrying a giant bag with her.

"Thanks for the books Patchy!" The witch said.

"Get back here! **Royal Flare**!" A massive ball of heat came from the hole and traced after the witch, burning many parts of the building and leaving a paramount amount of destruction.

"Oh, Marisa's here! Come on, let's play!" Another girl the size of Theresa and Remilia burst through one of the wall, her short blonde hair shifting side to side with some christmas ornament-like wings dangling behind her. She was completely unharmed despite running through a wall, and created another hole while chasing after where the witch went.

"I have no knowledge about anything foreign reaching Gensokyo." Remilia answered, continuing on as if there weren't a few new holes in her home. "Though I suppose I can arrange you some help. This indeed does sound interesting. I don't want to miss out."

After recovering from the sheer absurdity of what just happened, Theresa decided to brave the waters. "Please don't tell me that's normal."

"Don't worry, it's not." Reimu said, leaving Theresa to take a sigh of relief. "They destroyed a lot less than usual. Usually half the place is gone before Marisa gets away. A few dozen hole short. Additionally, the front door would be trashed, and the shut-in actually would've gotten out of the library."

Theresa nearly choked on nothing. Kiana fainted, leaving a distressed Mei crying out for her. Bronya shut down to inability to comprehend the situation. Fu Hua began taking deep breaths to still her mind. Himeko decided that she was too sober and needed more alcohol.

"But our usual antics aside, I have a feeling I know who stole your precious things." Reimu said.

"Really!?" Theresa asked excitedly, the shock from earlier gone. "Who is it?"

"Butttttt...You're in horrible luck. She's the type who can't be found unless she wanted you to find her."

"Huh?" Theresa didn't not understand the statement.

"So it's _her_. That certainly complicates things." Remilia said. "How do we find her then?"

"Well…" Reimu fell silent, contemplating their options. "Normally she would come out once I call out to her, but that likely isn't going to work right now. Actually, let me try that out right now." Reimu took a deep breath in, and screamed at the top of her lungs. "YUKARI! IF YOU DON'T SHOW UP RIGHT NOW, I'M NOT SLEEPING WITH YOU FOR A MONTH!" Silence. "Okay...that didn't work."

"What sort of demand was that!?" Theresa exclaimed out loud, being the only one to understand it, with Himeko too drunk to understand, Kiana and Mei being too innocent, Bronya taking the phrase too literally, and Fu Hua going back to the ship, unable to deal with the nonsense.

"Anyways," Reimu completely ignored the loli principal's comment. "Our best bet is to stake out people who Yukari visits the most. So, someone should go check on Yuyuko, also someone for Eintei. Maybe the doctor could actually comprehend some of madness, given her own absurd sense of logic. Maybe someone could track down Aya too. That stupid crow probably knows something."

"Umm…" Theresa was lost on what to say.

"So, I recommend that you-"

"That you go find the dead, the doctor and the crow." Theresa repeated Reimu's statement once everyone was back on the Hyperion. "So we'll be splitting into three teams. One will go visit the dead, one will go visit the doctor, and one will remain here and wait for this supposed crow."

"No, no, no! The dead is okay if Mei is around, but I won't ever visit the doctors, not even if Mei promised to marry me!" Kiana exclaimed. "God, all the needles."

"Now now, Kiana." Mei comforted her. "It can't be that bad."

"Well, I suppose me and Bronya can visit the doctor." Himeko said. "We visit them pretty often anyways, surely they can't be that bad."

"Right then. So Kiana and Mei are going to the dead, Himeko and Bronya are going to the doctors, leaving me, Fu Hua, Sakura. Ideally someone else should go with Kiana."

"I will." Sakura volunteered. "It can't be too bad. I'm good with spirits anyways."

"Alright then. Valkyries listen up! Your current objective is reconnaissance! If possible, do not engage in combat. If you are compromised, immediately retreat and report back! Nobody is to put their life in danger! Am I clear!?"

"Yes Commander(Auntie)!"


	3. Chapter 2

Sakura still couldn't decided if she wanted to curse herself for being the 12th Herrscher or be thankful, since it was currently allowing her to fly. Kiana was in her Knight Moonbeam suit, so she could fly, being extra powered by having to carry Mei. They were being led by Sakuya to what was supposedly the Netherworld. It was certainly grand, considering that the entrance was just floating in the air and once inside there was a nearly endless flight of steps. Though that didn't prove to be a problem given her nature as the embodiment of Honkai and Kiana's extra power boost from Mei's presence. Though she was surprised by how the maid could fly, and wasn't even surprised when she saw the other two fly. Was flying not a rare ability here?

Upon reaching the top, Sakura thought they might never end, they enter a manor just as big as Remilia's mansion, but only one story, taking up more surface area, and in a traditional Japanese architecture, much like her former home. What immediately caught her eye was the withered cherry blossom tree in the center of the courtyard, with a massive rope wrapped around it.

A short girl with short white hair, green eyes, and a green and white uniform approached them. There was also a white ball-shaped ghost following her. Sakura took note of the two swords she was carrying. Those were definitely not normal swords, that much she was sure of.

"Sakuya-san, welcome. I see you brought some friends along."

"Well, Youmu-san, it's good to see you too. Though I would say they're more acquaintances than friends. They're from the outside world, and they have something to discuss with your mistress."

"I see." Youmu took a look at Kiana and Mei, then trained her eyes on Sakura. The miko felt unnerved, given that the girl's stare was much too similar to a master swordsman sizing up their opponent.

Youmu walked up to Sakura, only increasing the miko's nervous heartbeats even more. Once she was right in front of her, her green eyes looking up to her, she bowed.

"Excuse my rudeness, but please have a duel with me!"

...

And that's why Sakura was now facing off against the gardener of Hakugyokurou. Sakura considered if she should used both of the extremely powerful blade in her hands. Jizo Mitama, a weapon made directly from her own power, or Florid Sakura's devastating fire attacks. Though she was mostly afraid that she would have to use both. For now, she just had Jizo Mitama drawn.

The moment Sakuya started the match(they all agreed that she should act as referee), Youmu rushed forward with speeds impossible for humans, even valkyries. Sakura barely had time to raise her own sword the block. However, Youmu immediately withdrew her blade and attacked from the other side, leaving Sakura in a panic to block. Sakura figure then and there that she couldn't afford to hold back, and concentrated as she would in fight against Emperor-class Honkai.

She began parrying the blows, driving them out of sync and buying her more time to prepare for the next strike. However, she was still on the defensive, as although Youmu's swings were slightly faster, they were quite heavy, and it was taking a tool. They also struck from unusual angles, leaving it difficult to block. Youmu didn't make any feints yet, but that was likely because she didn't need to. Sakura knew her swordsmanship was inferior. She relied more on her powers in the end. She couldn't win on pure swordsmanship alone, not when it seemed that Youmu had many decades of practice behind her. Her sword seemed to like a petal, flowing through the wing. It was like the gardener was dancing, flowing so smoothly, but there was not flourish and every strike was aimed for her.

Sakura knew she needed something to change the momentum, but she was worried about what Youmu was holding back on, especially with that ghost blob behind her.

However, staying like this will only result in her loss, and she didn't want to lose so easily. She was a Herrscher, even if she regrets the decision she made that day.

"Jizo Mitama!" A massive figure in a suit of armor wielding two equally massive swords appeared behind Sakura, using one of its swords to block Youmu's attack. And for the first time, Sakura went on the offensive, swinging her sword from the opposite side of Youmu's leaving her no room to defend.

Her attack was blocked when Youmu pulled out her other sword, a much shorter blade that her other one. Youmu spun around, hitting her main sword against Sakura's using sheer force to push her back a few feet. Sakura was sure she would need new shoes after the damage caused by dragging it along the ground.

"Apologies." Sakura said. "I concede that my skill with the sword is inferior to yours. The only way I have at winning is using abilities outside of my swordsmanship."

"No need." Youmu said while returned her shorter sword to its sheath. "I expected as much from a Herrscher."

"Wait- How-" Sakura didn't remember telling anyone here who she really was. How did Youmu know?

"Anyone worth their salt can recognize a Herrscher." Sakuya answered for her. "Me, the mistress, and Reimu all know. Just make sure to be careful around people with loose lips."

"Sakuya-san, since when did people determine their own value with salt?" Youmu asked.

"Yeah, when was that a thing!?" Kiana asked in agreement. Sakura and Mei sighed, while Sakura just chuckled, leaving the mystery a mystery.

Both swordswoman concentrated again for their fight. Youmu, despite being outnumbered three swords to two, charged forth with the same inhuman speed earlier. Sakura went on the offensive too, now having the advantage in sword count. Jizo did a wide sweep with one of the swords, which Youmu evaded easily by ducking down. She had Jizo do an overhead strike, which Youmu simply sidestepped. However, the swordswoman dodged to the other side of the blade, leaving Sakura unable to attack. But she couldn't have Jizo lift the blade as that would give Youmu the initiative.

Not that it matters as Youmu leaped over the blade to give Sakura her own overhead strike. Sakura managed to block it, but now Youmu was behind her, and the miko couldn't turn around in time to defend. Instead, she called down Jizo to stab its massive blade right behind her, block her back from attack.

However, Youmu popped up from her non-sword side. Sakura, panicking, reached with her other hand to pull out Florid Sakura, the top of the blade barely coming out, just enough to block the blow. To her surprise, Youmu, instead of staying put and pressing her attack, scotted past her just as fast. Her concern was answered by the numerous flower petals floating by her side.

On pure instinct, she pulled out her other sword all the way. She used one hand to cover her head with her eyes closed, another to cover her neck, and then used her swords to cover her chest. Right as she finished shielding herself, everyone one of those flower petals transformed into a sword slash, littering Sakura's body with numerous cuts. Luckily, none of them cut deep, only revealing slight amounts of blood.

"Human Sign-" Sakura heard Youmu's voice ring out, but it was too late. "Slash of the Present World!"

Youmu flashed before her, moving even faster than before if it was possible. Pain erupted in her side. Sakura could feel the lifeblood start to drain out of her body as she forced her body to try and close the wound, or at least the stop the blood from spraying. She quickly put a hand to the wound in an attempt stop stall the bleeding, though it just gave her a bloodied hand.

"Sakura!" Both Kiana and Mei cried out.

"It's fine." Sakura said while focusing on slowing the blood flow in the injured region in forcefully increasing her own blood production. "It's going to take more than a weak blow to the side to take down a Herrscher, don't you think?"

Youmu's widened with a hint of surprise, then gave a friendly smile. "I see. I admit I respect your tenacity. That blow to any human would've at the least incapacitated them, if not killed them."

"Thankfully I am no longer human."

"If you are still standing after the next strike, I will consider it your win." Youmu stepped back, raising her sword overhead. "Hesitation Cutting Sword-" Energy seemed to flow from Youmu into her blade, forming into an extremely long sword of blue energy.

Sakura let go of her wound, knowing that such blood loss would not affect her combat abilities if she ignored it. Plus, it's not like she had used her full power yet. She drew both swords, holding the two deadly blade together, their power able to cause normal humans to feel nauseous. "Jizo Mitama X Demonblade Florid Sakura."

And the sword of pure energy came down. "Slash of Departure from Hesitation!"

"Yae's Inferno!"

However, before the two attacks clashed, a massive golden cross dropped down in between them, stopping both attacks as they clashed against it.

_The Oath of Judah. _Sakura immediately recognized the weapon, seeing Kallen use it before. But wasn't it missing? Why did it suddenly pop up in the middle of their battle?

"Sakura!" Sakura recognized that voice anywhere. She quickly turned towards the sound of the voice. And there she was, in her nun uniform, white hair and all.

"Kallen!" Kallen ran up to her and hugged her with all her might.

"Oh my god. I was so worried I would never see you again." Only then did the nun notice her injuries. "Oh my god, you're injured! Hold on, let me help you."

"Wait!" Sakura cried out as she tried to stop Kallen from tearing off her clothes. "You don't need to do that. My wounds will heal on their own. Herrschers are much more durable than you think."

"But you're still human. I have the right to make sure you are in good health, and I plan on exercising it. Don't worry. Medical training was part of cirrculum for nuns back then." Kallen turned towards Youmu. "Hey gardener. If you fetch the towels and hot water, I might forgive you for hurting my Sakura." She blushed slightly at the way Kallen called her "my Sakura".

Youmu didn't know how to reply to that, so she simply went to do what she was told. Sakuya decided to go with her.

"Come on, let's go inside." Kallen helped(dragged) Sakura inside and into one of the rooms. Once inside, Kallen immediately began undressing her, taking off the tattered miko uniform. Unfortunately, that left her naked, as her village didn't exactly have bras and she felt that having a sarashi with only Kallen around was a waste of time and effort. She knew she should be embarrassed, but part of her was simply comforted by the fact that it was Kallen looking at her.

Sure enough, the numerous wounds were slowly closing on their own. They would close faster if Sakura decided to use more of her powers, but she wanted to use her Herrscher powers as little as possible. If she didn't limit herself, regrowing limbs probably would only be a matter of time.

Using the towels Youmu brought and soaking it in water, Kallen began cleaning the wounds, wiping away the dried blood. Once all the wounds were treated, Kallen dropped the towel and clasped her arms around her, clinging to her hard, scared that her love will disappear for the third time, like waking up from a dream that she didn't want to end.

"Kallen-"

"Shhhhhh...Just let me be like this for a while." Kallen whispered, subtle fear tracing her voice. "I was scared I would never get to see you again."

"Me too." Sakura whispered back. "I had already began considering suicide if I couldn't find you."

"Don't you dare ever do that." Kallen's grip tightened severely. "I can't stand the thought of you dead."

"Me neither." Sakura decided to try and lighten up the mood. "Though technically, the both of us are already dead or have died before. So...I don't think we should be so worried on the whole dying part."

What she received was a multitude of blows to the head. "Don't joke around about things like that!" Soon, both of them broke out into laughter, joy filling them room.

"Well, everyone here seems to be happy. Do you mind if I join?" A pink haired woman dressed in a blue yukata embroidered with flower with a soft spoken voice entered the room without a sound, shocking the two. Sakura panicked, scrambling to find something to cover herself, though found her torn up clothes to be gone. There was a note Youmu saying that she took the clothes to fix them. Kallen panicked trying to find something for Sakura to wear, though the only thing she could do was cover Sakura herself.

"Yuyuko-sama. I told you that one of them was in a state of undress. You shouldn't- Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude." Youmu bowed down in apology as she gave back the fix miko outfit for Sakura to dress herself in, thankfully allowing for some headway to be made without too many blushing people.

…

"Yes, the shrine maiden is most likely right." Yuyuko said while smiling mischievously. "Yukari-chan is more than likely the one behind the weapon theft." Yuyuko then pointed towards Kallen. "She is also probably responsible for why you're here."

"What?" Kallen asked. "But I just showed up here that day, remember?."

"Well...you see, Yukari sort of just dropped you off here and told me to look after you." Yuyuko explained. "She said that you have technically died before, more like a ghost, so you should fit in here."

"Wait there's ghosts here?" Kiana asked, frightened. "Where? I don't see any."

"Don't you know?" Yuyuko asked innocently. "I'm a ghost." To prove her point, she picked up a wooden board and and phased her head through it.

Kiana took a look at the ghost princess, then screamed. "Eh? Ehhhhhh? EHHHHHHHHHHH!? AHHHHHH! It's a ghost! Save me Mei!"

"Youmu~ Where's the afternoon snack? I'm starving to death here.." Yuyuko asked, ignoring the frightened Kaslana.

"Yuyuko-sama…you're already dead." Though right after she said that, the gardener went to make some food for her mistress.

"Anyways, so you're looking for Yukari, right?" Yuyuko opened her fan and chuckled. "Well, I'm afraid you're out of luck. Yukari-chan is really good at hiding. You won't be able to find her. The only person that could find her is someone who isn't going to help you."

"That's the same thing Reimu said." Sakura commented.

"Well, yes. The Hakurei shrine maiden was always a sharp one." Yuyuko said. "It can be quite baffling how many times the girl has simply figured out intricate plans just by guessing."

"So we didn't get any new info coming here eh?" Kiana concluded, after getting over the fact that she was talking to a ghost. "So besides finding some valkyrie from 500 years ago, we came here for nothing."

"Don't say that Kiana!" Mei cried out. "We found Kallen. That has to be at least something. It's never a waste of time if it's helping people."

"Actually, there's something else you should know." Yuyuko said, interrupting the "soulmates". "When Yukari-chan came to drop off Kallen, she told me something. '_Be ready for war, for that Otto Apocalypse will not spare Kallen nor the Herrescher who stole her from him._' Seriously, it's just like her, being vague and the like. Just the way she always is."

"Wait. Otto's still alive!?" While Kallen was still in shock trying to discern how Otto was still alive after 500 years, Sakura focused on the other part: the Herrscher. It was definitely referring to herself. If Otto was alive, he wouldn't let her live. The only way that she could be harmed is if she came out of her dream world. But she was fine staying there...until Kallen disappeared. Kallen disappearing had forced her to come out of the dream world. But why would this Yukari be concerned over if Otto would spare her? Kallen made sense, as she was already in her grasp and in her home(she assumed that this Yukari lived somewhere in this area), but her own subjugation wouldn't involve her in the slightest.

Unless she was situated in her home too, leaving the place to be caught in the crossfire of Otto's wrath. But if Yukari knew that she would be a factor in this war involving Otto, then that meant she knew that Sakura was going to be here. Did that mean she predicted the future? No, Sakura thought of a much more probable, but scarier possibility. This Yukari brought Kallen here, knowing that she would come find her. But how did she know she would find her? How did Yukari make sure she knew where to look? Unless-

"Well, who knows what's going to happen?" Yuyuko said cheerfully. "Instead, you should really have some of Youmu's cooking. She's one of the best cooks in Gensokyo, along with the vampire's maid and Yukari-chan's shikigami. Besides, she tries her hardest making them even when I tell her not to."

"Yuyuko-sama!"

"Well, I suppose that when you go back-" Yuyuko pointed towards Kiana, still smiling creepily like she had been the entire time. "This girl will find quite the surprise at the vampire's place."

Sakura felt that she would be more at ease if she didn't say that. She learned that surprises were always a bad thing in most cases.


	4. Chapter 3

"So, you're the group that wants to visit Eintei, eh?" Mokou said as she sized up the two that wanted to go visit the hospital in the massive bamboo forest. "Can't say that'd be the first destination for most outsiders. Granted, usually those that come in injured don't live very long."

"Outsiders?" Himeko questioned.

"It's the term we use to classify people not from Gensokyo." Mokou explained as she lead Himeko and Bronya into the forest, deviating from any possible trail. "Though with all the nonsense that has happened recently, it's really been hard to deal with all this stuff. Now I know why all the damn youkai hate thinking like humans do. It hurts ya brain if you do it for too long."

"Bronya does not understand." Bronya said as she "floated" after her. "Mokou said it was a pain, but never stated what the source of said pain was."

"Whatever. It's probably not going to matter." Mokou brushed off any concern the two had. "Seriously though, what's going on? Even I know there's trouble if a battleship landed here."

"Apologies." Himeko said. "We did not mean to cause trouble-"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Mokou reassured. "I've lived enough to recognize troublemakers when I see them. Well, we're here." The white-haired girl gestured towards the circle shaped entrance that lead into a courtyard where a traditional Japanese-style building stood. Himeko, deciding not to waste time, immediately began making her way in.

"Oh, yeah, be careful of-" As Himeko put one foot in the entrance, the ground beneath her collapsed, dropping her into a pit that was clearly dug there with the intention of having someone fall into it. "-traps." Mokou let out a sigh and cursed "Dammit Tewi."

"Don't tell this is some sort of worthiness diviner, so only people with certain qualifications could get over without falling." Himeko shouted from inside the hole.

"Oh no!" A red-eyed, purple-haired girl with with rabbit ears came rushing over, bending over to help Himeko out of the hole. "I'm so sorry. One of the rabbits here likes pranking people. Usually it's me who's the target, but since you came without a prior appointment, so-"

"It's okay, I understand. Just let me-"

"Lucky Kick!" A much shorter girl with rabbit ears popped out of nowhere, kicking the other girl into the hole along with Himeko, then scurrying away.

"...What did Bronya just see?"

…

"Sorry about the incident earlier." The head doctor, Eirin Yagokoro, said. "I'm afraid we have some rather mischievous residents here."

"It's alright." Himeko reaasured. "I'm made of some rather tough stuff. It's going to take more than just a light fall to end me."

"So a little bit of time is worse than a fall then? Good to know." Eirin commented, writing down some notes on a clipboard. She didn't even give the major time to respond on that comment before she continued. "So, about Yukari. Well, I can't say I know much. If anyone would actually figure out the whole scope of what Yukari is planning, then she doesn't deserve the reputation she has."

"So, this is a dead end?" Himeko asked.

"Not necessarily." Eirin corrected. "If you want, I would have no problem extending your lifespan, along with restoring the other girl's usage of her legs and brain."

"... Bronya thinks that sounds too good to be true."

"Yes, of course I'm not going to offer it for free." Eirin said. "Let me think. A reasonable price would be … maybe 100 years of service. No wait, I forgot. Human lifespans are much shorter than ours. Maybe 50 then. Actually, since I'm feeling a bit generous, how about 20?"

"... You happen to have any sort of strong alcohol with you?"

"Yes, we do in fact." Eirin answered. "We have some Waning Moon Wine. Straight from the moon itself. It's made by fermenting a Lunar Rabbit's blood for a hundred years. The taste is quite sweet and a favorite amongst the locals. I can sell you one at about 5 years of your life a bottle."

"You know what." Himeko said, raising a hand to her forehead to hide the frown. "Forget I ever asked." Himeko got up to leave, deciding that this was a wasted trip.

"Well, sorry." Eirin's voice stopped the leaving major. "But in our policy, life extending and limb revitalization are some rather expensive treatments, so do understand. It is not something that can be cured by the technology here."

"And not anywhere else either." Himeko commented.

"Well, yes, I suppose." Eirin said. "Now, after everything is over, there is a chance my mood might be better, and you would find me much more … generous in terms of treatment costs. However, being doctor aside, there is someone I feel is part of this conspiracy that Yukari has cooked up. I suggest you take her along. Reisen! Bring Patient 746!"

"Yes Master!" The purple-haired rabbit girl rushed off, bringing back a woman with white hair and blue eyes who, despite being in a hospital gown, walked with unmatched grace. At least by non-Gensokyan standards.

"Hello Patient 746. You are hereby discharged." Eirin said with no emotion.

"Why? I've been here for almost 15 years, so why now?" The woman asked.

"Because our resident gap hag has set some plots in motion, and they involve you." Eirin wrote a note, sealed it and gave it to the woman. "Follow these two back to their ship. I'm sure you'll find quite the surprise there. And send the vampire girl my regards."

"You sure I'm fine. I mean, I-"

"Please, you are seriously underestimating my talents." Eirin said. "I could save even if you were bombard with an uncountable number of nuclear missiles, and heat and radiation left you only with a hint of life. I can regrow people's limbs in a matter of days, with no side effects. Do understand that my abilities are beyond your comprehension?"

"Okay then." The woman apparently gave up on trying to argue with the doctor. Instead, she chose to greet her new would be companions. "So, who are you?"

"I'm Murata Himeko, and this girl is Bronya Zaychik." Himeko said.

"Well hello Miss Himeko and Miss Zaychik." The woman responded gracefully.

"My name is Cecilia Scharic."


	5. Chapter 4

Fu Hua was unnerved by all the stares she got. Normal people wouldn't have noticed, but she certainly took note of all the unusually long looks she got from everyone. All their eyes seemed to linger longer and her, and she could see the hint of a smile on their faces whenever they did so. Normally, Fu Hua would just be cautious, but then she realized that she was the only one with this treatment.

It only stroked her paranoia even more. Her first conjecture was that they were all messing with her, trying to trip her up. But her second conjecture was much more reasonable, and scarier.

They knew something about her. And they didn't plan on letting her know what they knew.

Realistically speaking, she wouldn't be scared of a physical fight. She had confidence in matching S-rank valkyries in single combat. But she was not in a situation where the proper response was combat, and she lacked the charisma that Theresa had. Everyone seemed to be carefully to avoid talking about anything crucial with her. It was almost as if they were purposely withholding information from her.

"We're back!" Kiana cried as she burst through the mansion doors. Though she stopped when a neat line of knives embedded themselves in front of her.

"Please push open the door properly when you open it." Sakuya chidded as she appeared next to the twintail girl, knife in hand and smile leaking malice. "And keep your voices down. My mistress does enjoy her tranquility."

"Sorry." Kiana apologized as she quickly rushed over to her aunt. "Guess who we found auntie!"

"What is it this time Kiana?" Theresa groaned as she addressed her niece's overhyper attitude. Trying to converse with the vampire had been a bit grating on her nerves, and her niece was not helping.

"Ta da!" Kiana parted her arms to reveal Kallen-

-tightly gripping onto a fumbling Sakura.

"I don't see what's the big deal." Theresa said. "All I see is someone who looks disturbingly like your ancestor, Kallen Kaslana. I fail to see the relevance of her identity."

"Wow, I'm surprised people still recognize me. I thought 500 years was enough for people to forget about me." Kallen stated as she let go of the miko. "Wait. Please don't tell me Otto built statues of me all across the world. That would be so embarrassing."

"You know that stupid Bishop?" Theresa asked.

"Oh my god, he's a bishop now?" Kallen exclaimed. "Wait, he's actually alive!?"

"Yes, Archbishop Otto is alive." Theresa confirmed. "And he's my grandfather."

"You … don't like him, do you?"

"Yes, I do not like him." Theresa scoffed. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"No." Kallen answered. "I feel the exact same way. He's the type of person I hate that they need to exist."

Suddenly, a feeling of camaraderie sparked between the two and a hug of sisterhood against their hated bishop formed. Everyone stared like fish out of the water, no comprehending very well that had just formed in front of them.

"So … you're actually Kallen Kaslana from 500 years ago then?"

"Yes, and no." Kallen answered. "I did die, but I'm technically an alternate form of myself. I'm sure Sakura can explain it better."

Sakura stepped forward, particularly in between Kallen and Theresa. "Considering that after both of us died, we both ended up in the-"

"You know what, just give me the simple answer." Theresa interrupted. "I had enough subtly after talking with Remilia."

"In simple terms, we're alternate versions of ourselves created from old Honkai energy." Sakura explained, doing her best to leave out the Herrescher part.

"I see." Theresa really had no choice but to accept the explanation given her lack of understanding of Honkai. There were simply too many mysteries that humanity hadn't been able to solve. "Well, I must admit this is a bit awkward, given that I was made from some of your cells, so that would technically make me your daughter genetically."

Kallen gasped, almost as if she was going faint from excitement. "Oh my god, I have a daughter!?"

"Wait! I said that I was only made-"

"Did you hear that Sakura!? I have a daughter!"

"Kallen, I'm sure she said-"

"Shoot, but she's not related to you. That means she can't be the lovechild between you and me!"

"Kallen, please, can you-"

"Wait, a child with Sakura? That was impossible back then, but it's been 500 years, so technology must of advanced. So it could be possible I can actually have a child with Sakura. Oh, the joy!"

"Kallen-"

"She can pink hair, or would white hair look better? Hold on, why can't she just have both? Then we can also get her an Oath of Judah that uses katanas instead of spears. We can even call it the Pledge of Sakura. But just the idea of a child with Sakura, she would be perfect..." Blood suddenly spurted out of Kallen's nose and she collapsed in a pool of her own blood.

"This reminds me of Sakuya sometimes." Remilia commented in the corner. "And not in a good way."

"Okay, why do we have an injured person right now?" Himeko asked as she barged into the mansion. "I just came back from the damn doctor's and I really don't want to go there again."

"Nothing too serious." Theresa said. "Just some 500 year old spirits dying from blood loss…" Theresa rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming, because the sight in front of her was more impossible that the idea of the person whose genes she had who died 500 years ago suddenly popping back up to life.

"Kiana, here." Theresa handed her current cross over to Kiana, who was befuddled by the action. "Hit me as hard as you can."

"What!?"

"I said hit me as hard as you can." Theresa said again. "Don't worry. I'm a lot tougher than I look."

"Oh my god, it's Theresa!" Cecilia leaped forth and hugged the smaller girl/woman with all her might. "You really haven't aged a day."

"Is it … really you?" Theresa dared ask. She could not believe the woman hugging her was real, that she was the person who died 15 years ago in Siberia.

"Yes it's me." Cecilia smiled, the room seeming to brighten up as she did so. "It's me. If you need proof, I can still remember the day when you couldn't put the dress Otto order for the wedding, as it turned out too big, so you came to my room naked and-"

"Nope nope nope nope nope nope nope. You are not saying another word of that." Theresa immediately cut the white-haired woman off. "Just thank whatever deity that Siegfried never learned of that. He would never let me live that down."

"Well, you wouldn't let him actually live if he even so much as flirted with another girl." Cecilia commented, chuckling. "Though I doubt he actually figured out you were serious."

"Yeah, I'll give him a beating when I find him." Theresa said.

"Find him?" Cecilia asked. "Is he missing?"

"Yeah. It's a long story, but enough about that idiot. Look who's here." Theresa pulled away and brought Kiana into the spotlight, literally as lights rained down from the ceiling and illuminated the position. Remilia gave a thumbs up to her liberian, who just sighed from the outlandish request.

"Theresa…" Cecilia looked at the similarly white-haired girl with peaked interest. "Who is this?"

"Cecilia, it's your daughter!" Theresa cried out, not believing that her all but not blood related sister wouldn't recognize her own daughter.

"Theresa, this …" Cecilia took a long look before finally stating the couple of mood breaking words. "...isn't my daughter."


	6. Chapter 5

Kiana groggily woke up after she seemed to have passed out somehow and was now lying on a very comfortable bed. She remembered simply running after hearing that her mother did not believe she was her daughter. She ran away, despite Mei's protests for her to stay, which she would've listened to if it were any other situation.

However, it turned out Gensokyo was not as safe as made out to be. She encountered some blonde kid with a red ribbon that wanted to _eat _her. At first she took it as a joke, but when the girl started biting on her armor, she shot back on instinct. Before she lament that she killed a human girl, said human just got back up and complained that it hurt, and then transforming into a massive ball of darkness, of which her shots had no effect on.

Then she remembered the ground beneath her opening up and herself falling in.

The scene she woke up to was what seemed to be akin a some sort of paradise. A lake covering a good portion of the land with a lovely flower garden covering the rest. Even in this house, she could breath in the wonderful scent without much trouble. The buildings, much like the rest of the housing in this place, was traditionally Japanese in style, with bridges connecting each section due to the entire place being built over the lake.

"I see you're awake." Kiana turned over to see a … she couldn't really tell if they were a guy or a girl, speaking to her. Their hair was weirdly shaped, the two sides curving up into ears with earmuffs on the side. They were wearing a rather fancy shirt and skirt, which suggested some sort of nobility and that it was she, probably. "Yes, I am a woman."

"Did I say that out loud?" Kiana asked.

"No, don't worry." The woman said. "I assure you that you aren't speaking your thoughts right now."

Could she read minds?

"No I can't read minds." She answered. "Though there is someone who can do that, though I doubt you'll ever see her. I suppose I could introduce you."

Kiana was concerned to say the least. Though she said she couldn't, it was as if she could read her thoughts. What if she uncovered her indecent of fantasy of how she wanted to have sex with Mei.

"Woah, easy there." The woman chidded. "I do not need to know the details of how you want to make love to your friend there." She then cleared her throat. "I see you are wondering about somethings. Well, I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Toyosatomimi no Miko, or if you wish you could address me as Prince Shotoku. You are in Senkai, my personal realm."

"Okay… Wait! You created your own realm!?" Kiana asked.

"Yes." Miko answered. "It's not that difficult really. Quite a few individuals have the potential to do so. But alas, I fear it is beyond your capabilities _currently_. Besides, I didn't bring you here to talk about myself. Let's see. You want to know why your mother didn't recognize you."

"... Yes." Kiana answered nervously. Hopefully she could get some insight here. As far as she could tell, the woman in front of her was definitely smarter than her. She proceeded to tell Miko everything she knew about her mother, probably because she doubted she could hide it anyways, ranging from traveling with her idiot father, never meeting her mother, meeting Mei, and getting accepted into St. Freya High.

"Hmm… usually I would say that she should recognize you, even if she hasn't seen you since you were a baby, given your hair color. White is rather rare outside of Gensokyo." Miko said.

"But I have white hair." A white-haired woman sailing by in a boat cried out.

"You're _in _Gensokyo Futo!" Miko scolded it. "It's been that way a while now. Have you spent too much time with the lazy shinigami?"

"Definitely not Crown Prince!" Futo saluted back. "There's no way I would make friends with our mortal enemies. In fact, I will go burn the Higan River right now!"

"...Tojiko, please go stop Futo from trying to burn water." Miko ordered a green-haired girl who appeared to not have legs who had just dropped off some tea. "I do not need the yama hounding me for improperly teaching my subordinates."

"Yes. Crown Prince." Tojiko took a bow and went straight through the walls after Futo.

"Now where were we?" Miko asked as she turned her attention back towards Kiana. "Let's see, your mother, well, I have met her a few times in the past couple of years. Quite a polite woman I must admit. Rare to see such humans from the outside world these days. Also one not to lie, from what I could tell, so it can be safe to say she genuinely doesn't believe you're her daughter."

"But-"

"But to be fair, she was nearly nuked, I've heard."

"What!?"

…

Theresa was now sitting on the balcony of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, not bothering to sip her tea as she stared daggers at the sleepwear-wearing, blonde, purple-eyed woman stopped her from chasing after Kiana.

"_Kiana! Wait!" Both Theresa and Mei cried out after crying Kiana as she stormed out of the mansion. Mei was already moving, but she was stopped when a parasol suddenly appeared out of the middle nowhere and blocked her path._

"_Now, now, there's no need to panic." A soft, mature voice came out from the "hole" that opened up for the parasol to come through. Both Theresa and Cecilia readied themselves for combat, though Cecilia was lacking a weapon. Both of them had seen something similar to the "hole" before them, and it did not bring any good memories. "Gensokyo is … rather safe at the moment, so you do not need to worry for her well-being. Besides, I already arranged a counselor."_

"_Who are you?" Theresa asked, secretly eyeing Oath of Judah which was currently in Kallen's hands._

"_Come on, is that anyway to greet the person who saved your best friend, or more like sister?" A woman asked, as she leaned out and on the "hole" as if it were a window._

"_What!?"_

"_Come on, how do you think she survived? While some people may be able to survive a blast of that magnitude, I doubt someone's who was quite exhausted from fighting could." She said. "It's even more sad that I don't get anything for dealing with the 2nd Herrscher for you guys."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Now, now, what's the rush?" She asked, in a seemingly mocking tone. "The world's not ending right now, so wouldn't it be more suitable to talk this over some tea."_

"So, do you mind explaining what in Otto's sorry ass is going on?" Theresa asked, still not willing to drink her tea.

"Relax." The woman who introduced herself as Yukari Yakumo said. "Things will get much more exciting soon, and we won't get this sort of peace for a while."

"What do you mean?" Theresa asked, concerned over her statement.

"Now, now, where's the fun if I tell you right now? It would ruin the surprise." Yukari smiled.

"Why-"

"Give it up already." Reimu said as she floated down into the conversation, taking Theresa's tea and drinking it for herself. "You're not going to get anything out of Yukari that she doesn't want you to know. And she says I'm the stubborn one."

"That's because you are, Reimu." Yukari said. "Now, back on track. I suppose I should explain a few things. First, yes, I was the one who rescued our dear 'Legendary Woman' here. I also killed the 2nd Herescher while I was at it."

"Wait, you killed-"

"**Did I give you permission to speak?**" Yukari asked, her voice suddenly deepening while a gap filled with misplaced eyes opened up behind her. Theresa kindly shut up. "Well, you see, the 2nd Herescher's power was too similar to mine, so I killed her. But I suppose that sort of boring talk isn't going to interest you." Theresa was actually very interested, but didn't want to speak up.

"Well, that aside, as an act of goodwill, I will return these to you." Yukari opened up another gap, and all the weapons that were reported missing from the armory dropped down onto the floor. "I don't need them, since I am quite familiar with a person who can make weapons superior to these."

"What-"

"Alas, I must abide you farewell. I fear I may have much to prepare for in the future." Yukari opened another gap and put herself inside it. "After all, the world tends to move forward even if you don't." And with that cryptic message, the gap youkai vanished, the gap closing behind.

"... I swear that I got nothing from that, even though she said so much." Theresa commented.

"That's normal." Reimu reassured. "I fear the only people who truly understands Yukari even remotely are Ran and Yuyuko. Well, whatever. It's none of my business."

"Shouldn't you be more worried?" Cecilia asked. "The last part sounded like a warning."

"Pfft. Thinking too hard about it is exactly what the hag wants." Reimu said. "Just do what you will and it will work out … probably. Whatever. I'm going back to sleep."

…

"So, to put in basic terms, your supposed mother was rescued by our resident gap youkai." Miko concluded.

"...I don't see how that helps with my current situation." Kiana commented. True, how her mother survived didn't help the fact that said mother denied that she was her daughter.

"That's the point." Kiana was lost then and there. "I can't help with this. Only you can help yourself."

As Kiana tried to interpret Miko's words, she felt her brain short-circuit and steam discharging out of her ears.

Miko chuckled. She supposed it was the similar situation to dealing with the ice fairy. "To put it simply, you have to view what's important. Does it really matter that your mother doesn't believe you're her daughter? Did you believe that Theresa was your aunt at first? Is your life ruined because your mother doesn't treat you like her daughter when you first meet?"

Kiana thought about it. To be fair, it didn't actually change much if she wasn't recognized as Cecilia's daughter. Mei was still with her, Bronya would still annoy her, Himeko would still be a horrible guardian who'd still be single, and she would still consider Theresa her aunt. "You're right. Nothing really changes."

Miko gave her a smile, content that she managed to help Kiana motivate herself into life.

"Kiana!" Fu Hua burst into the room, surprising both residents in the room. "Thank god I found you. Come on, let's go back. Everyone's worried for you."

"Okay." Kiana immediately got out of the bed, and began walking over to join the class monitor. However, to the surprise of both valkyries, Miko stopped her, placing her shaku in Kiana's path.

Fu Hua immediately went on guard, getting into a battle position.

"You know, if I were anyone else, you'd might have been able to get away." Miko said. "However, I'm one of a certain number of people were you can't hide your intentions from."

"I don't know what you mean." Fu Hua said in response.

"You can stop lying." Miko said. "I know exactly what you intend to do. Moreover, you ought to consider. There are only 5 people besides me that can access this location by themselves. Futo and Tojiko would never let anyone in without my permission first. Makina quite frankly doesn't give two craps about this place. That leave Yukari and Seiga, and quite frankly, I trust neither of them. Especially Seiga."

"Oh my, you have to little trust in me, Prince Toyosatomimi-chan." A hole opened in one of the walls and Seiga popped through, her blue hair and unsettling smile brought discomfort to everyone in the room. "Now, I recommend you nab your little albino klutz before our dear hermit prince gets serious."

"And for good reason, Seiga" Miko said, her voice filled with warning. "What are you-"

Deciding not to waste anymore time, Fu Hua took the initiative and delivered the first blow, punching Miko through the wall and onto the lake. Kiana could only stare at disbelief on how her class monitor attack a human unprovoked. That definitely went against what they taught in school. However, this left the valkyrie stupefied as Fu Hua reached out to grab her.

However, she was stopped when a massive wave blast cut in between the two. "You know it is a grave offense to assault an emperor, right? It's punishable by death."

An emperor? Those words caught the class monitor's attention. Japan was currently under Schicksal jurisdiction, and as such didn't hold its former system of government. To put it in simply terms, there was no emperor of Japan, or any other country. Given Miko's clearly Japanese physiology, it was safe to assume that she probably an emperor of Japan. If what Miko said was true, that meant she was a former emperor, one that was thought dead by the world. And Seiga referred to her as Prince. "You couldn't possibly be Prince Shotoku, could you?"

"Oh, you know?" Fu Hua furrowed her brows in concern, if only for the fact that said person had been dead for over a thousand years. "Well, I suppose if it's you it's only to be expected. Well, that aside, it would be boring if I just let you attack me without retaliating."

The hermit prince seemingly pulled a purple cape from nowhere and draped it on herself. Then to everyone's surprise, she encased herself in the cape and just _disappeared_. Fu Hua barely had time to think as Miko reappeared above her and swung her sword down. Thankfully Fu Hua already had her armor on, so she could absorb the blow with her arms. That didn't mean she didn't feel the force as it traveled through her and split the lake below.

With a flick of her hand, swords appeared appeared in midair and flew towards her. Fu Hua barely managed to dodge them by grabbing on the swords to use as a grip and move herself out of the way. She then bore witness to the sight as Miko pointed her sword towards her, thin rays of light shooting out at her. It would've caused some serious damage if she wasn't in her armor.

"Hmmm… I might have to put a bit more power into my attacks." Miko commented, as she continued to float in midair while flourishing her cape in an overly obnoxious fashion. "So why don't I-" Miko raised her sword high, powering gathering the intricate blade. "Blow you to pieces!"

Fu Hua was concerned that she would have to get serious, and in turn reveal her double agent status. Theresa obviously would suspect something if she didn't report that she had a 4th generation battlesuit given by Otto. She would suspect something even if she did tell her.

Thankfully, help for her came when the blue-haired hermit blocked the attack for her.

"Seiga. What. Are. You. Doing?" Miko's expression turned from playful to outright anger. Both Kiana and Fu Hua almost too a step on instinct, though the wicked hermit just gazed back with a smile on her face.

"Well, it appears that whatever this young lady had planned, it would be interesting." Seiga answered, her voice lacking any resemblance of fear. "It has been boring recently."

Miko's face shifted from one of anger to one of concern. "Kiana! Get to the village, and get to the Myouren Temple! You'd recognize since it's the only temple there. Find the purple-haired monk and tell her that Miko said to not hand you over to anyone no matter who they are!" Miko shifted on the doors open, which lead to a much different scenery than their current location.

"But-"

"Just go!" Miko cried. "Don't worry. It'll take more than this wicked woman to take me down."

Kiana hesitated for a second, then decided that it was probably best for her to leave. So far, every Miko said was the truth, so if she believed that she should run, she should. Without further hesitation, Kiana launched herself through the hole.

Despite the surprise of finding herself back outside, Kiana immediately rushed towards where she saw the village earlier. Logically speaking she should be listening to her class monitor, and not someone she just met a few minutes ago. However, Fu Hua attacked first, and that set off alarms in her head. Miko did not have any trace of Honkai energy, that was for sure, so as far as she could tell, Fu Hua should've saw her as no more than a normal human, yet she attacked with enough force to kill a normal Honkai beast.

However, she didn't have time to consider that as she knew she had to run. She may not have been smart, but she knew that the class monitor was faster than her, so she needed as much of a headstart as possible if she didn't want to be caught. She managed to reach the village after a few minutes of running. Spotting one of the largest buildings that looked like a temple, Kiana made a straight v-line for it, ignoring the cries of surprise as people rushed to get out of her way. She feared looking back only to see the class monitor catching her.

With her enhanced speed, she was quickly making headway, said temple getting ever so closer. Hopefully things would get resolved the moment she met up with this Byakuren person. Hopefully she was nice too. The temple was now only a few hundred feet away. A few hundred feet to safety from all this mystery.

"Miss Kaslana, I recommend you don't go any further." A soft voice said, stopping Kiana in her tracks. Right in front of her was someone she didn't think was possibly here. Rita Rossweisse, in her maid uniform and armed with her scythe. But why was she here? She definitely wasn't part of the Hyperion crew, nor was she one of Theresa's subordinates.

"Why are you here?"

"To pick you up, obviously." Rita replied in a relaxed manner.

"Hah! The only one I would let pick me up is Mei-senpai." Kiana cried out defiantly. However, she was stopped, and those precious seconds counted.

"Kiana!" Kiana turned around to see Fu Hua close in from behind her, stopping only a few meter away. Then the martial artist noticed the maid on the opposite side. "What are you doing here?"

"The bishop merely sent me as insurance." Rita answered. "Just in case things … didn't go according to plan."

"So he doesn't trust me, huh?" Fu Hua commented. To be fair, it was expected. Being the leader of one of the organizations that protects humanity, it always helped to have a back up plan.

"Wait, what's going on? Who's this bishop?" Kiana asked, clearly confused while the other two had to resist facepalming from the sheer idiocy of the girl.

"Well, you have your orders." Rita said. "Take her in."

"Wait." Fu Hua said, stopping the other valkyrie from doing anything drastic. "I'm sure if we explain we can resolve this without conflict. There's no need to risk-"

"Surely you understand that the bishop's orders comes before your sentiments." Rita warned. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with roughing her up a bit."

"What sort of values are being taught to children these days?" A mature, melodious voice rang out, interrupting the conversation between the two. "Violence should always be a last resort. One should always seek methods that do not involve conflict before blooding their fists."

A well-endowed woman with a straw hat walked in between the two and stood besides Kiana, holding her staff as a symbolic barrier between her and her "attackers". The hat hid her face, but her purplish hair was still visible. "If you guys have an argument, why not settle it peacefully through a match of danmaku?"

Before anyone had a chance to ask what Danmaku was, Rita sprung forward, swinging her daunting scythe right at the newcomer. Fu Hua cried, though she was too far away to do anything. Kiana didn't expect a valkyrie to attack a normal human, and was frozen with shock. The newcomer still raised their arm and made no movements to dodge.

"It's as I said." The woman said, the scythe having somehow stopped at her hand, or more specifically, stopped by her hand. "One should find other solutions before resorting to violence."

"...what is your hand made of?" Rita asked right after quickly pulling back her scythe. Her scythe could cut through honkai beast with no problem, but here was someone stopping it with their bare hand.

"Oh, it's made out of flesh, just like yours." The woman replied naturally. "You know, the staple food of most youkai. Oh wait, I shouldn't mention that. It'll only cause panic if that becomes a major issue." The woman then let out a cheerful smile. "Let's just forget about the line I just said, alright?"

"But-" Fu Hua tried to say something, but that woman simply took her hat off and crushed it.

"I said **forget about it**." The woman said again, this time the smile much more creepy. "Now, why don't we talk this out like civilized people? Surely we are capable of doing such."

"Much apologies, Miss-"

"Hijiri." The woman said. "Byakuren Hijiri."

"Yes. Well, Miss Hijiri, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid no words that I can offer will excuse what I am about to do." Fu Hua got into a battle stance. She knew that if it was just Kiana alone, she would have a chance at getting through this without fighting. But now that there was a third party, one that was clearly not scared of fighting valkyries, that possibility was nonexistent. "Apologies beforehand."

"I see. At least you have the respect to apologize at least. If it was anyone else, they wouldn't have even bothered." Byakuren said. "But since you intend to resolve this with force, I fear I must respond in kind." She then grabbed Kiana lifted off, jumping rather high into the air. Both Rita and Fu Hua were experienced valkyries, so they were able to react quickly and chase after her.

However, instead of continuously running away, Byakuren stopped outside the village. Both understood the woman's intent. Leave the bystanders out of this fight.

"There's something I want to know, Miss Hijiri." Fu Hua looked at the woman straight in the eye. She had a gut feeling, that despite looking like she was in her 20s, she was much older. "Why are you helping her? As far as you're concerned, this girl had no connection to you."

Byakuren simply smiled back. "Well, she smelled of flowers, and the only place that would give off that sort of scent would be the Taoist's place. That means she just came from there, and she's going towards my temple. That would mean she's rejecting Taoism and wants to go along with the path of Buddhism. Now why wouldn't I aid a future followers of my temple?"

Even Kiana facepalmed at the absurdity of the reason. "Actually, it was Miko-san who-"

"Don't worry." Byakuren cut her off. "I'll make sure none of those nasty woman put their hands on you." She also tossed aside her staff, which would've made the other question her intelligence if it weren't for the fact that she stopped a honkai beast felling scythe with her hand.

"Listen Shadow Knight. Our goal is to retrieve K423. We will focus on holding off this woman while one of us captures her. When that happens, our goal is to get out of here, even if it means one of us doesn't make it out of here." Rita said.

"I know. You don't need to tell me that." Fu Hua replied. Their first step was getting through Byakuren.

Fu Hua attacked first, sending a fury of punches forward, which to her slight dismay, where all blocked. Rita followed it up with her scythe, though the sharp blade did little to pierce Byakuren's skin. The class monitor used the opportunity to throw a single, more focused punch. When it made contact, it managed to push the monk back, though barely.

Instead, Fu Hua switch to kicks, which were much more effective as Byakuren had to put up a constant shield with her arms to stop it. Rita tried to take the opportunity to grab Kiana, who was unable to participate due to Byakuren's insistence, but the monk traded taking a few hits to get in Rita's way.

Ideally Fu Hua would be the one to try and get a hold of Kiana, as she was the faster one, but Rita was unable to deal blows out as quickly as her to hold Byakuren off. Luckily, it seemed that the monk wasn't very intent on fight back, and would only push them away the moment they tried to close in on Kiana.

They were stuck at a stalemate. Neither could actually manage to damage Byakuren, at least not without blowing up a good chunk of the land without them, which would risk not only having Byakuren go on the offensive if she survived, but also attract the attention of others.

Fu Hua landed another body blow on the monk, but she didn't even so much as flinch as she went back to fend off Rita. She was sure that with the number of direct blows she's landed, she would've killed any normal honkai beast. That meant that the monk was likely similar to her: using an energy that could substitute for honkai energy.

However, suddenly, out of nowhere, someone ran up to the monk and simply latched onto her. The monk tried to pry whoever it was off, but clearly she was unable to make any headway with that. Not missing this golden opportunity, both of them rushed after Kiana. Normally, Kiana would have been able to defend herself effectively against other valkyries if it came down to it, but Fu Hua was more or less an S-rank in disguise, and with Rita's help, she was able to quickly overpower Kiana and knock her out.

Fu Hua decided to risk taking a look to see if the monk was still occupied. She regretted it when she saw Byakuren tear the woman in half, her blood and guts spilling onto her, covering her in a shower of red, all the while screaming "**SEIGA KAKU!**" Deciding that staying any longer might be the equivalent of suicide, both valkyries quickly made their way out of Gensokyo, before the monk could settled down and chase after them.


	7. Chapter 6

"How long has it been since the last time all of us gather at my shrine?" Reimu asked as she took note of the crowd that was now situated at her home.

"Weren't we all here for the spring festival two weeks ago?" Marisa asked.

"Dammit Marisa! I was trying to sound cool!"

"Yeah, ya sort of failed all those years ago with da religious wars, ya know."

"Don't remind me." Reimu said while facepalming. "Anyways. As everyone knows, things have just gotten a lot messier, and it's all Yukari's fault."

"Sounds about right." Remilia commented as she sat under her umbrella. "Though it's not like we can do anything about that fact, can we?"

"Kicking her harder off my futon will have to suffice." Reimu said.

"Sorry. It's all my fault that they got away." Byakuren began with an apology. "If only I had-"

"Stop worrying about the 'ifs'" Miko cut her off. "You don't need to go off on the whole taking responsibility thing. You won't look formal while doing since Youmu's the only one who could professionally commit seppuku. It's more Seiga's fault, really. I would send her to hell, but-"

"She'd get out of it in a matter of days." Komachi finished the sentence for her. "Why do hermits have to make our jobs so hard?"

"It's not like you're putting in effort anyways." Miko argued.

"So now what?" Mokou asked. "Do we just burn anything and everything?"

"Of course your one-track mind could only think of such of barbaric solution." Kaguya commented.

"Ya wanna die!?" Mokou stood up and dived straight for the moon princess, so shot back with her own rainbow bullets. Not that the immortal cared if she lost her limbs.

"Youmu, where's the dumplings?"

"They're here Yuyuko-sama." Youmu quickly brought forth an entire pot full of freshly made dumplings straight to the ghost princess's mouth, who began to eat them at an abnormal pace.

"Hey Reimu!" Sanae cried. "How are donations going for your shrine?"

"What are you talking about?" Marisa asked. "She obviously still has none. Her getting any sort of donation would be as likely as Yuyuko fasting. Or Alice not being a loner."

"I heard that." Alice commented. "Do you want to have Shanghai and Hourai stalk you for the rest of your life?"

"So we are all in agreement that this is Yukari's fault." Reimu said.

Theresa could only gawk as she watched literally no progress being made. These were all supposedly the bigwigs of Gensokyo, but it looked like they were all bickering like children. "Umm… shouldn't you be worried about what Otto is planning? How do you even know Fu Hua is working for Otto"

"Nah, don't worry about it. Yukari has connection everywhere, or at least eyes." Suika said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that my information network is larger than you think." Yukari said as she popped out from a gap next to Reimu. "And I hope you aren't serious about the whole bed matter."

"Trust me, I'm serious."

"Come on, we both know you'll change your mind in the middle of the night." Yukari teased.

"Want to test it out?" Reimu pulled out a handful of needles, ready to skewer the gap youkai. "I can have the hell raven make a sun so that it would never reach night."

"Please understand that my pet is not a tool for your couple arguments." Satori argued. "Even if she's stupid enough to believe so."

"Wait, what? I'm a tool for couple arguments?" The hell raven's response only elected a sigh from both her owner and best friend.

"Onee-chan! Look what I found!" Koishi burst into the room, carrying numerous amounts of katanas with her. "Those people just left them around. They look Japanese, so I thought they belonged here, so I brought them back with me."

Theresa could only stare blankly as she watch the some unidentifiable figure put down all the katanas that were supposed to be in the Schicksal Main Branch Armory.

"Koishi." Satori started. "They wouldn't happen to have been left behind numerous thick steel doors and in a room with numerous things like laser, traps and turrets, were they?"

"Wow! How did you know?" Koishi exclaimed in surprise, earning a groan from everyone else.

"Do none of you realize the problem!?" Theresa cried out. "Otto Apocalypse, the man in charge of the most powerful organization on Earth, is planning something, which is likely not to your benefit! Can't you guys at least show some urgency!?"

"Pfft. Most powerful organization on Earth." Tenshi said sarcastically. "What are we supposed to be? Scared?"

"You should be!"

"Sorry, but I'm afraid the only time the Eldest Daughter got scared was when Yuuka-san got a hold of her." Iku commented. "And when Yukari-san threw a train at her."

"You all seem to be very confident." Sakura commented. "Do you mind disclosing the source?"

"Well, those three won't die even if the world ends." Reimu said as she pointed to Mokou and Kaguya, who were still fighting, and Eirin. "And those two are already dead." She referred to Yuyuko and Mima. "And she hasn't made any plans to return any stolen books, so we know she's not going to die anytime soon." Reimu made sure to give Marisa a good stare.

"Hey! They're still borrowed without permission! I'll still return them when I die!"

"I believe that is not different from stealing." Patchouli commented.

"Will none of you take this seriously!?" Theresa was at her limit.

"I'll admit, it is inevitable that Gensokyo will become a warzone." Byakuren said. "So, Theresa-san. I would recommend you remove yourself from the vicinity. I fear none of us can guarantee your safety."

"I'm concerned for your safety here!"

"I'd laugh myself to death if Yukari needed someone to be worried for her safety." Reimu commented.

"Well Reimu, I supposed that is rather likely, given that I have to drag you back across the border of life and death after someone makes a donation." Yukari made sure to clarify. "You laughing to death, that is."

"So, are we actually going to talk about what we're going to do?" Byakuren asked, leaving Theresa to cheer internally and thank whatever god Schicksal followed that someone actually was on topic.

"Eh...no." Was the response of just about every other person in the room. Theresa quite literally lacked any words to objection to say.

"Why?"

"You speak as if any of us are going to listen to each other." Remilia said while sipping her tea. "I'm afraid our gods on the mountain have a track record of pursuing their own agenda."

"And it's not like anyone can keep track of a maid who can stop time." Kanako shot back.

"At least she follows orders properly." Remilia replied smugly. "Your little hell raven doesn't look like she can tell between ally and enemy."

"I can't?"

"It's my hell raven." Satori commented. "It was never hers."

"Oh my, weren't you the one who said your pet isn't a tool for arguments?" Yukari asked.

"Gods, this is so annoying to talk about. Let's just worry about this later." Reimu said. "Suika! Bring out the sake!"

"Got it!"

The supposedly serious meeting simply degraded down to a drinking party, with the oni pouring everyone a large cup of sake(Byakuren refused, of course). Theresa could only sigh in disappointment. Truth be told, she wanted to see if she could ask some of them to help her lead some sort of rescue operation for Kiana, or at least help get some information, but it seemed all for naught.

"Where are you going, might I ask?" Yukari popped out in front of the principal, who was about to leave to make her own plans.

"It's none of your business on what I intend to do."

"Well, don't worry about your niece. You don't need to go find her. She'll come find you."

"What?"

"Well, I suppose someone near you." Yukari corrected. "So it may be in your best interest to stay here for the time being. In the end, the results will be the same."

When Theresa got back to the Hyperion, she tried to contact her grandfather, but for some reason the call wasn't going through. Granted, she was trying to leverage the face that she knew Fu Hua's true identity, though she doubt it would actually get her anywhere. After all, Otto was not known to be the most compromising of people. However, that went out the window as even the private communication was not functioning.

But it got her thinking. Why did he take Kiana? Sure, she was a Kaslana, but surely the 3rd Herrscher would be a much better target. "Hey, Himeko, if you were Otto, would you rather take Kiana or Mei?"

"I would take Mei." Himeko answered. "Her being the 3rd Herescher aside, just being much more reasonable than Kiana would make it easier to work with."

"Not necessarily." Theresa said. "You could bribe her with food."

"She'll just start crying for Mei's cooking. It's much harder to deal with her when that comes to be."

"Yeah…" Theresa sat down at the commander's seat in the bridge. "What do you think of them?"

"The Gensokyans?" Himeko fell into thought for awhile. "I would say sketchy. I mean, that Byakuren girl seems nice enough. Around my age too. We would get along so much better if she actually drank though. Her aversion to alcohol is unpleasant."

"I'm pretty sure it's called being healthy."

"Yeah, yeah, it's not like I'm gonna live any longer anyways." Himeko brushed the comment aside. "That doctor seemed pretty off. She was respectful, though she felt like the mad doctor that would run experiments secretly without anyone knowing."

…

A sneeze went off in Eintei. "Master, are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." Eirin answered. "I'm used to it. Back in the Lunar Capital, everyone talked behind my back." She then pulled out a syringe filled with mysterious purple liquid. "Now, let's test the effects of this drug. Of course, we need to observe it on a unprepared subject."

Sometimes Reisen wish she wasn't a Lunar Rabbit so that she could just die already.

…

"And that Yukari, for some reason, reminds me of the Archbishop."

"Don't remind me." Theresa resisted the urge to facepalm. "And she's basically guilt tripping me into owing for saving Celica. God, and I thought the vampire was a pain to deal with. At least she offered free tea and didn't just pop up out of nowhere."

"Who pops out of nowhere?"

"AH!" Theresa flinches back in freight. Behind was the mysterious silver-haired girl that entered during the middle of the meeting, smiling creepily at her. She remembered hearing her name was Koishi.

"Theresa, what's wrong?"

"Do you not see her?" Theresa asked while pointing to girl in front of her.

"Who? I don't see anyone in front of you."

"What?" Theresa rubbed her eyes a bit. Yep, she was still there.

"Oh, old drunk lady can't notice me." Theresa had to agree. If Himeko had heard her call her old, she definitely would freak out. "Only kids can see me without problems."

"... Are you calling me a kid?"

"Are you not?" Koishi asked innocently. "You're just as short as me, and big sis tells me I'm still a kid."

"I can't tell if you're reasonable for just stupid." Theresa then recalled what Koishi had brought during the meeting. "Wait, you went into a Schickscal base, didn't you?"

"Schickscal? Is that something you can eat?"

"The place where you found the katanas."

"Oh!" Koishi exclaimed. "That place. It was really cool. It was in the sky, above the cloud. It's was really pretty. Not as much as home though."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She could ignore the blatant thievery if it meant information.

"Theresa, you okay? You've been talking to the air in front of you for a while now." Himeko was clearly concerned that Theresa was showing the signs of an insane person with an imaginary friend.

"Don't worry. I'm not insane."

"That's what insane people say." Himeko argued. "You know how I always say I'm not drunk when I am."

"So you're admitting to it?" Theresa made a mental note to record that as blackmail. "Anyways, don't worry, I'm fine. I'm just talking to a Gensokyan. Are you sure you aren't drunk from earlier and just not seeing things properly?"

"Pretty sure." Himeko commented. "I'll go wash up anyways." She made her way towards the washrooms in the back of the ship.

"So," Theresa turned back towards Koishi. "Did you see Archbishop Otto?"

"Who's that?"

"You know, the tall white-haired person whose face makes you want to punch him."

"Oh, that guy!" Koishi exclaimed happily. Theresa didn't expect that explanation to work. "His reaction was funny when I hit him in the face."

"Wait, you actually punched the most powerful man in the world? How did you not get maimed by all the guards and security in that place?"

"Well," Koishi adopted a cute, innocent smile. "People don't notice me unless I want them to. Some people are an exception. I think he started to notice something was wrong after the 5th punch."

_I'm pretty sure he noticed something after the first. _Otto was definitely one of the more intelligent types, and wouldn't get ignore something weird and chalk it up to nature, if his experiments regarding harness the powers of the Hereschers were anything to show. "So, did he say anything in particular?"

"Hmm… he said something to the maid about the Herescher of the Void, something about the 2nd, then something about K423 and her relationships, then something about a vampire. And that's about it. Nothing he blabbed on about sounded interesting, and I needed to hit him, so I didn't pay attention."

_Vampire? Could the man know about Remilia? Also, why is hitting him in the face more important than listening on his plans? _The thought ran through Theresa's head. As far as she knew, vampires, if Remilia was one, did not exist outside of Gensokyo. However, the old man was more than 500 years old, so it couldn't be improbable that the two met centuries ago. But what was their connection?

"Argh! This is too much to think about. I need something sweet to help my brain function."

"Theresa! Urgent news!" Himeko burst back into the bridge, not caring that her clothes were haphazardly put on. Apparently her definition of washing up was taking a shower. "Main headquarters is moving in this direction, fully armed and ready for war, as we speak!"

"What!?" The main headquarters was in Europe. Why would it be coming this way? What on earth is Otto planning? Even this was a bit overboard by his standards. At least it seemed like she didn't need to go out of her way to pay a visit. "How far away are they?"

"They'll get here in about 36 hours!" There were some things that didn't add up. Normally, if there was a movement from HQ like this, Theresa, as the commander of the Far East branch, would've received corresponding orders to match the movements, and Himeko would tell her firsthand if there were any. That meant that they didn't have any orders, which meant that Otto was waiting for her reaction if he knew she was here. She could warn the Gensokyans, but that would basically label herself was traitor. She could feed information or do other things that could provide help to Schickscal, but aside from the fact that it would put her at risk immediately, helping that geezer just seemed to go against her very being. Of course, she could always just do nothing.

"Yes, you should do that."

Theresa turned around, alarmed at the presence of the newcomer. It was easy to tell who it was, with the purple hair and the weird looking eyeball wrapped around her. If she remembered correctly, the others called the person in front of her Satori. Did she just answer her question from earlier.

"Yes, I did."

Wait. She didn't even say that out loud. How did she even answer it?

"I thought you would've figured it out by now."

_Wait, don't tell me she can read my mind?_

"Yes, I can."

This was bad. She could not let anyone know of her hobby of cosplaying as a magic girl and her embarrassing speeches about saving the world as one.

"That's an interesting hobby, I must admit."

"How-"

"You should be careful about where you're thoughts go. If you're not careful, you could reveal some rather _confidential_ information."

That was bad, if she couldn't get her thoughts under control, then-

"Oh, your grandfather is bringing his military personnel over to Gensokyo for an possible invasion? I suppose that does sound worrying. Though I do suggest the third option from earlier. Getting yourself stuck in unnecessary messes can be dangerous, so it's always better to stay out of it."

Was she-

"Well, I wouldn't consider it life advice. It's just, unless you're crazy or superhuman, or just not human at all, things in Gensokyo can get quite hectic."

"You're quite-"

"Annoying? Yes, I have realized it given that it is more or less everyone's reaction. This is why animals are so much better. They don't feel insulted when you read their mind."

_That's some-_

"Backwards logic? It's normal for humans to be insulted? It's normal to have privacy? Well, I suppose you don't want the fact that you mastur-"

Theresa immediately slammed a hand over Satori's mouth to prevent her from blurting out anymore secrets. "Don't tell anyone that. Please."

"Don't worry. I have no intentions of telling anyone." Satori assured. "I do belong to the antisocial group of this land, after all. But in all seriousness, don't do anything reckless. We already have enough reckless idiots in this place. I'm giving you this as a warning to someone who would be at risk if they involved themselves in the conflicts of this land. And don't make any deals with anyone but Byakuren. Especially not Remilia. But odds are, you probably won't have a choice."

For Theresa, saying that message was crypt was an understatement.


	8. Chapter 7

"So they're finally here." Reimu said to herself as she looked up at the sky. A near uncountable number of battleship littered the sky, threatening to cover up the sun. The shrine maiden decided that this might be a … bit problematic. There were simply too many of them.

"Yes. They're later than expected." Yukari said while stealing one of Reimu's rice crackers. "Though I suppose fashionably late is a trending thing these days."

"Yeah, not gonna ask Sanae about that. Still, all I did was threaten those girls and throw in a few insults here and there. Does that really warrant sending an entire army?"

"You are planning on greeting them?" Yukari asked, though it was more in an all-knowing tone rather than curiosity."

"Why I should I greet people who barge into my house without permission?"

"Oh, is that why you never greet me then?"

"Yes."

"Oh, and here I thought it was because we had something going on." Yukari said. "Well, strange. I thought those impatient kids would've attacked by now. I wonder why they're still not doing anything."

…

Inside the bridge of the flagship, _Herescher's Bane, _Otto Apocalypse sat in the admiral seat, surrounded by a large number of valkyries and mechs, along with Rita Rossweisse.

"Sir Bishop, might I inquire what our plan of attack will be?" Rita asked the leader of Schickscal. "Even though we are here, we have yet to deploy any of our valkyries or mechs."

"Don't worry, we will soon." The white-haired, young-looking, much, much older than he looked man said. "Since it is unlikely that they will make the first move, so we are safe to simply stand by and set things our own pace and do this our way."

"Then what exactly is our way?" Rita asked politely.

"Hmm… you remember how the 3rd Herescher is still with my dear granddaughter, down in that land?"

"Yes. I heard that she goes by the name of Mei Raiden."

"Yes. Her." Otto chuckled. "Now, you must realize, that K423, whom we've inserted the Gem of Serenity into, will soon awaken as a Herescher. You should've also noticed K423 attraction to the 3rd Herescher. Why do you think that is?"

"So, Sir Bishop, you into to bring the-"

"Yes. I plan on doing just that." Otto stood up, getting a better view of the expansive landscape that was Gensokyo. "I'm afraid some innocent civilians might get caught in the crossfire, but some sacrifices must be made for the sake of humanity."

"But in that case, what if she destroys the entire place? Additionally, would we be able to stop her? As strong as Durandal may be, even she may not be a match. Even with Miss Theresa and the 3rd Herescher. Victory does not seem likely."

"Yes, that is true." Otto responded. "But that's assuming that we'll be the first ones to have to subdue her." He let out a ominous chuckled, unnerving the scythe-wielding valkyrie. "You should not-"

"Underestimate the power of the residents of Gensokyo." The entire bridge turned their attention towards the lone figure that just walked into the room. Otto recognized her, as it was the Taoist leader, Toyosatomimi no Miko. "Yet you still invade anyways."

"How did you get in here?" Rita asked, prepping her scythe. This was the flagship, so the security measures were top-notch. Not even a fly should be able to get through without anyone knowing with all the motion sensors, infrared sensors, and honkai energy detectors.

"I walked in through the hanger." Miko answered, her voice filled with content as if explaining something to a child. "Though it seems automated systems are rather vulnerable to electric shocks. Your little toys didn't even greet. How rude."

"I am very sorry for the poor greeting." Otto said, not disturbed at all by the presence of the newcomer. "If you had sent a notice beforehand, I'm sure we would've had a much better welcoming party. Though I suppose you're not here for parlor tricks."

"What are you planning?" Miko was straight to the point. "You're not the type of person to play by ear. Since you're here, you must have something in mind."

"Yes, I do in fact." Otto said. "It should be arriving in a few moments."

"What are you-" Miko was cut off by the blaring alarms that went off as the entire room flashed red.

"Sir Archbishop! Honkai energy levels inside targeted area just spiked! Herescher detected!"

Miko immediately raised her sword towards the Archbishop, her expression much more scarier than the sadistic look of any Herescher could make. "You did not just do what I think you just did."

…

Remilia was pissed, as in she wanted to go ripped off the head of just about every person around her just so she could see blood pissed. "Patchy. Get Flan out of the basement, and figure out a way into that alternate dimension that brat of a Herescher created."

"What are you going to do then?" The hikikomori asked.

"Paying a visit to the son of a bitch who's causing this mess." Remilia leaped up, spreading out her wings and flying at ridiculous speeds towards the massive fleet in the sky. Upon spotting the flagship, she dashed straight towards its bridge, smashing right through the glass that separates her and her target.

"OTTO APOCALYPSE!" She screamed as she stared directly at the white-haired man sitting confidently in his seat. "Are you out of your mind!?" The archbishop raised his hands to stop the other in the room from pulling out their weapons.

"Funny, Remilia Scarlet." Otto said in response and gestured towards Miko. "Your friend here asked something quite similar."

"What are you thinking? Unleashing a Herescher in Gensokyo?" Remilia asked. "Are you trying to destroy humanity?"

"Nonsense. Why would I purposely release a Herescher to destroy the world? I'm on humanity's side after all." Otto said, playing the ignorant card. "Besides, humanity has survived against a Herescher before, it can do it again. Humanity will always persevere."

Remilia could guess what Otto was after. Given that Fu Hua was a spy, Otto definitely learned about the existence of magic in Gensokyo. As such, knowing that she was here, he could send in the supposed Herescher under the safe assumption that Remilia herself would at least be able to damage it enough for the valkyries to take it down. However, in the fight, Gensokyo would be damage, and Schickscal could take advantage of its authority to put the territory on lockdown and run experiments on the magic user in the land. There was just one thing he didn't account for.

"When one plays with fire, they should expect to be burned." Remilia stated.

"Like this?" Otto pulled out a gun and shot Remilia in the chest. The vampire gagged for a second, trying to regenerate the wound, but the bullet had a burning effect to it, hindering the healing ability.

"I expected you to come here, so I was prepared. The shots fired by the Judgement of Shamash burn quite harshly, so it's quite effective against you. Rita, if you don't mind, put her out of her misery." The maid walked forth, raising her scythe above the incapacitated vampire's neck. "It's a shame though. I found you quite the enjoyable person to talk to back in the day."

The blade came down, removing Remilia's head from the rest of her body. Not so much blood flowed out as the head dropped to the ground, but that was expected since her blood wasn't exactly flowing since being dead meant the heart didn't work.

"Interesting." Otto commented as he turned towards the hermit that just observed the scene. "You didn't even try to prevent the death of your friend. How heartless."

"Pot calling the kettle black." Miko said in response. "Being openly hypocritical makes your argument much less convincing."

"I see. I can't say you're wrong." Otto said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm afraid you'll have to die too." He raise the gun again, pointing it at Miko while numerous mechs surrounded the hermit.

Miko sighed, as if expecting this situation. "Tojiko." Right as she called the name, streams of lighting blasted through the bridge, blowing up all the mechs prevent Miko's escape. "You don't need to worry about killing me. After all, I think you'll have bigger things to worry about." The hermit turned around and walked towards the broken window. "Also, a word of warning. When Remilia asked if you're trying to destroy the world, she **wasn't** referring to the Herescher."

Without another word, Miko exited the ship and flew off.

"Sir, what should we do with the body?"

"Store it in one of the containers." Otto said. "Vampires are a rare specimen after all."

…

Marisa nearly blew down the doors as she came blasting into Reimu's shrine. "Yo, Reimu! There's an anomaly...what's with the face?"

"There's a Herescher." Reimu said.

"So-"

"In Gensokyo."

"...fuck."

"Yeah. This isn't going to end well." Reimu began gathering up her extermination tools. "It appears to be similar to the one from that snowy place with the creepy ass tower."

"... this is going to end horribly, isn't it? By the way, where's Yukari?"

"I don't know. She just left." Reimu stated. "And to be frank, I think we're better off not knowing. Come on. We know what comes with a Herescher."

"So extermination time da ze~!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just try to minimize property damage. I'd hate to make Ran work even more than she has to. And stay away from my shrine. Or I'll make you repair it." They both shared a laugh, one that proved their old friendship true. However, the red-white cut her laughing short.

"Actually Marisa, get Alice to help you. I got something else to take care of."

"What is it?"

"Just a pesky nuisance."

"Alright then. Hope ya don't mind me takin all the fame." Marisa jumped onto her broom and zoomed off. Even after all these years, the self-proclaimed still hadn't dropped the cleaning tool.

"Since you've gone out of the way to make me aware of your presence, why don't you show yourself?" Reimu said to no one in particular.

"I'm rather insulted, an insect like you referring to me as an insult." A deep, yet feminine voice responded in an echoey fashion.

"I'm not the type to play word games. My patience is also quite thin. If you want a beatdown that much, I won't deny you it." Soon, the space around her seemed to warp, everything in the surroundings seeming to close their shape before a bright light engulfed her vision.

When the light died down, Reimu found herself in the Scarlet Devil Mansion, albeit much more purple and lacking walls. There certainly weren't floating rocks all over the place either, if you didn't count Patchouli's Philosopher's Stone. Yeah, it definitely wasn't the actual mansion. Not red enough.

She found Mei bunched up in the corner, all beat up, and Theresa on the floor, face on the ground and bleeding out from her missing arm. Up on the stairs was the clear culprit of this mess.

A woman that looked Byakuren's age and size, with white hair that ran down to the hips, skin fairer than most. She looked like she should be a model or something with that black and white coat and orange eyes of hers. A pair of wings and spikes levitated behind her, as if they were a symbol of her higher status.

"How much of a nightmare was it for the person who designed your clothes?" Reimu asked. "Even Alice wouldn't put that much impractical detail, **Herescher**."

"Confident even in the face of death." The Herescher commented on Reimu's attitude. "I would compliment you if it didn't remind me of what happened at the Tower of Babylon."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere."

"Yes, but it makes me feel a bit less guilty for when I erase your existence off this planet." The woman said back. "Not that I feel guilt to begin with." She launched one of the spike from behind her at the shrine maiden, which was easily blocked by one of her barriers. More were sent her way, but didn't little against Reimu's sturdy barrier.

"Sakuya. I know you're here." Reimu called out. The maid appeared next to her moments later.

"Greeting Reimu-san. I'm afraid I had to hide due to Kiana-san's, or Selene-san as she refers to herself, attacks being more potent than I expected."

"It's fine. Just take those two out of the area. I can't guarantee I won't trash half the place on accident."

The maid nodded, disappearing and reappearing besides the principal and the 3rd Herescher before disappearing again.

"Where do you think you're going?" Selene asked as she threw her projectiles to the way of the maid. Surprisingly, Sakuya made no moves to dodge. She didn't need to, as the attack was deflected by a barrier that surrounded the area, trapping both Herescher and shrine maiden inside. "You dare get in my way insect!?"

"First, I'm the peacekeeper around here. Interfering with people's business is listed on my job description." Reimu said. "Second, putting me on the same level as Wriggle. That's insulting." She conjured up her talismans and readied herself from some non-danmaku fighting. She was going to teach her why you should never piss off a Hakurei shrine maiden.

…

"Everyone get to the Myouren Temple! The avatar of Bishamonten will keep you safe there!" Keine shouted out as she tried to keep the evacuation of the human village under control. The place was in a panic right now, since honkai beasts had been spotted. Unlike the outside world, they didn't have any sensors, so they were a bit late in starting the evacuation. Usually the shrine maiden would come and warn them beforehand, but she was nowhere to be seen, and was instead warned by the black-white witch. She was probably late since it's wasn't really her job to help the village.

The problem was that the temple, even if it was big, could not fit the entire population inside. After all, the usual population of the place was only around 10 at most. They were running out of space quite quickly. She wanted to ask Miko if she could open up her place, but the hermit was nowhere to be found, and they couldn't access her home without her opening it up for them. They couldn't use other areas either, since most of them weren't particularly "human-friendly".

A chariot-class honkai beast burst through the village walls. Keine wasted no time charging right up to it and headbutting it straight into the ground. After leaving a massive crater in the ground, the massive beast vanished into nothing. It was a bad omen however, since it only meant more was coming.

The teacher cursed as she wondered where Mokou was. She was much better at dealing with this than her.

…

Reisen was cursing how she got into the situation as she ducked behind cover to avoid enemy fire. She came first to avoid war, not to dive headfirst into it. She would ask her master onto how to deal with the situation, but said master didn't have her head in the game.

Literally as Reisen was carrying around her headless corpse. The moon rabbit slung her own rifle over and returned fire, taking down a couple of mechs that stood in her way. However, the number of mechs were quite endless, and it certainly didn't help that she was the only one on this side that was combat able. Himeko and Bronya were here to that Eirin could do some better research on their conditions, but they were located to the other side.

The attack started with an ambush. Mokou and Kaguya were having their usual duel to the death when a woman who introduced herself as Durandal burst in and popped the head off both of them. Eirin counter-attacked, taking down some of the mechs and valkyries that accompanied her, but was also taken out by that weird lance.

Reisen knew she had to hold her position. Eirin, before she had her head blown off, informed the rabbit that they were likely after the woman that they had as a patient before, since she was part of the organization before she was considered KIA. Reisen bit her teeth as she continued to lay down suppressing fire. On the bright side, her gun made by the Lunar Capital still had to the capabilities to destroy the machines in front of her without problem. She just didn't know how she would deal with Durandal later. She looked like trouble. The only reason she was resorting to her gun right now was the save her energy for the fight against the actual threat later.

She would need to thank Princess Kaguya for creating Eintei like an endless hall. Made it very easy to hold a chokepoint.

…

Youmu carefully wiped her blade down, removing any oil or blood that had remained on it after the short skirmish. She had difficulty walking around, not only because there were only stairs to walk on, it was covered in metal and bodies. She wondered why people would be foolish enough to mount an attack on Hyakurou of all places. "This place is not for the living."

"M-m-monster!" One of the few remaining valkyries cried out.

Youmu supposed she did seem like a monster. After all, she did just kill their allies in the dozens. Even though she did not contain honkai energy of any kind, she was still faster and stronger than any of them. It was only human to lash out at things you did not understand. "You should know that I am not the strongest in this land, nor the scariest. Though I am one of the more merciful."

"I recommend you go tell your master that the living should dwell in the land of the living."

…

In her sunflower field, Yuuka Kazami hummed to herself as she watched the honkai beast approached her home. If they had the capability to think, then they wouldn't dare even come close to the gathering of sunflowers. But alas, they were but beings of purpose, no will but the will of honkai.

Yuuka found them rather boring, so she just dissentigating them without a second thought. Though some say that there is beauty in simplicity, the designs were simply atrocious. They were little more than heaps of white and pink wandering around destroying things. The green-haired youkai found them quite distasteful. Maybe she should-

Making up her mind, she removed herself from her favorite spot in the field to make her way towards the collection of ships that hanged in the sky.


	9. Chapter 8

"Crown Prince, are you sure it was wise to leave that man alone?" Tojiko asked the hermit as they traveled back to the human village. "He seems like the person who's too dangerous to leave alive."

"He is, that much I'll admit." Miko answered honestly. "But you know, there's a lot of people in Gensokyo like that. People who don't follow the standard morality. And quite frankly, they're much more suited to dealing with him than I am."

"But what about the mistress of the Scarlet Devil Mansion?"

"What about her?" Miko asked. " Her decisions are not my concern. Besides, I'm sure Byakuren is probably panicking because of the attack on the human village. Ha. After so long, still worried about humans. She never changes does she?"

"You haven't changed much either Crown Prince."

"I suppose. Not really anyone has." Miko let out a laugh. "It wouldn't hurt for the gardener to be a bit less serious."

Soon the two made it back to Senkai, where Futo was eagerly awaiting them. "Ah Crown Prince. Thou hast waited for thee for many a time. As for thy report, tis them honkai hast invaded thy village. Thy allies Keine an' the **Buddhists**," there was quite a bit of venom in her voice when she refer to them. "Are holding tho enemy back. Thee orders?"

Miko sighed. No matter how hard anyone tried, she couldn't get her subordinate to stop speaking in such an old style. And she tried for a very long time, and the speech was getting confusing too. "Open up Senkai temporarily for civilian refuge. Our poor Buddhists must have their little temple crowded now. Even if we are rivals, we cannot ignore each other in times of need."

"Yes! Thou wilt immediately carry out order of thy Crown Prince!" Tojiko stared blankly as the other hermit zoom off the open the secret doorway they had set up inside the Myouren temple. The ghost really hated being the "normal" person in their group.

"Wait, if Futo came out here to greet us, and the two of us are here, then who's watching Seiga?" Tojiko immediately regretted asking that.

"...fuck. This is why I let you deal with the cooking."

…

An objected descended quickly upon the fleet of Schicksal warships. The ships detected the object, and fired at it as a defensive reaction. However, said object dodged each shot with surprising agility, leaving all those unable to stop it from crashing into one of the ships. Even with the shield deployed, the object was stopped as it broke though the shield and dented the deck, causing the ship, _Humanity's Will_, to sink a bit more its engines realigned itself.

Valkyries assembled alongside mechs to surround the object in case it proved to be hostile. Soon enough, the smoke clear and the object was visible.

More specifically, two people. One with orange hair and cat ears and another with massive black winds, a very impractical cape, and a cannon on its arm.

"Okuu, when I said get the drop on them, this is not what I meant!"

"Uyh? But there's no other way to drop on people than to fall from above right?"

"I meant that in as getting the jump on them!"

"Oh, you mean like this?" The crow-human jumped up and landed on one of the mechs, her weight flattening into a metal pancake.

"Not literally!"

The two were Rin Kaenbyou(Orin), a kasha and Utsuho Reiuji(Okuu), a hell raven, both denizens of former hell. The reason they were here, more or less boiled down to being bored. Rin thought that it would be interesting to see what the humans were made of, so she convinced Okuu to come along with her. She wanted to scare the humans to see how they would react, but she forgot how the hell raven was too stupid to take things figuratively, so she quite literally dropped themselves onto them.

Rin had a fit of nervousness as she watched all the human around her give her the death glare while all the robots aimed their guns at her. "Eh he he he. Surprise? Did you like the welcome?"

Apparently they didn't, as they all opened fire at her. The kasha quickly scrambled to dodge out of the way from the incoming fire. To the valkyries surprise, despite the density of fire, none of their attacks were hitting as the Rin's movement were too erratic to predict.

"Hey! Stop firing at Orin!" Okuu grabbed one of the mechs and crushed the head with her hand, leaving it as a pile of junk. She then twisted around, using her arm cannon as a club as smashing all the mechs around her to pieces. The valkyries, seeing that the hell raven was more of a threat, turned around their guns and fired at her, but their dismay, made little effect when it hit. Even the valkyrie's melee weapons did no damage to the raven's cannon. Though few people dared to even get near her, since everywhere around her seemed to burn.

"Hit her with the main cannon!" Everyone scrambled to move out of the way, though this action made the hell raven confused. She didn't realized what was going on until the massive cannon in front of her swirled around and fired at her. It was too late by the time she recognized it as something dangerous before it blast her face in.

At this point, most people would relax since few humanoid creatures could survive damage of that caliber, but that hope was dashed when Okuu's voice came through the smoke. "Uyh! That hurt! Stupid cannon is so annoying!" The hell raven aimed her arm cannon at the offending object, gathering up energy as the ground below her melted. Orin did the smart thing and took cover.

A blast of nuclear energy cut through the cannon, the shot continuing and grazing the engine of another ship. For those who were knowledgeable enough, they would recognized that the power was on level with the Judgement of Shamash.

"Stand back, I'll take care of this." Fu Hua leaped out from the bridge and landed before the pseudo sun god. "I hope you don't mind, but I'll be a bit rough." Before anyone could react, the class monitor punched the hell raven in the face. To her surprise, she didn't managed to send her flying with that punch. She couldn't tell if it was because her opponent was prepared for her strike, or she was just really heavy.

It was the latter.

The hell raven swung back, it was clear that she wasn't experienced in martial arts as she overswung, allowing Fu Hua to rush under her to deliver her fist to her stomach. Okuu ignored it and kicked her leg up, but Fu Hua dodged out of the way. This repeated numerous times, as Fu Hua's attacks seemed to do little damage, but Okuu's attacks were too slow to hit the A-rank valkyrie.

Seeing that her attacks were doing nothing, Fu Hua prepared to go into burst mode. If nothing else, the extra shock that her suit would carrying into her attacks was bound to do something. The hell raven seemed to have the same idea, as Fu Hua could feel the air around her getting hotter.

However, both of them were interrupted by a roar that felt like it from the dragons of legends. Both of them turned around to find a massive honkai dragon flying towards them, on path to crash into the ship.

…

Otto walked into the laboratory of the ship, situated in the center where there were the most defences, external and internal. It was also equipped with the latest technology humanity had to offer, even one it didn't officially have.

"So, what have you found out of the body?" Otto asked the scientist that were examining the vampire's body. They were treating it like an animal dissection project rather than a human body.

"Sir Bishop! Do you mind if I confirm some facts?" One of the scientists asked. He continued once he got the nod of approval. "This 'girl' fly at a speed past the speed of sound and broke through the glass protecting the bridge?"

"Yes, that's true. I even had a front row view."

"Well, you see, I don't see how that's possible." The scientist said. "With that speed, her body should not be as intact as it is currently. Additionally, with her mass, it shouldn't have been possible for her to break through the glass at the speed of which she was traveling. The most it could've done was a scratch. She hit the glass with more force than she was carrying. To put it simply, she broke the laws of physics."

"Well, that's what your job is, isn't it?" Otto asked, giving the "this is your job or the other person's if you fail" look. "To explain what new factors are involved to be able to surpass the limits of science."

"Well sir bishop." The scientist hesitated before continuing. "There isn't really anything different."

This grabbed the attention of the Archbishop, though whether it was curiosity or anger, was someone no one wanted to try and figure out. "What do you mean, there's nothing different? Do you need me to assemble a retirement plan for you?"

"No sir bishop!" The man blurbed out. "It's just that, besides the wings and the nervous system connecting it to the body, and being rather developed for someone of this size, there is nothing separating it from a normal human. There is nothing abnormal about the body."

"Well then, switch to physical test." Otto ordered. "Bring out subjects R13 to R113 and prep them for experimentation. Test the use of both tissue and blood samples on the subjects. I'll be waiting for results. Additionally, if the valkyries in the field capture anyone, tell them to bring them in. It's better to start early after all." Everyone gave a salute as the archbishop left the room. However, since all the staff were focused on their leader, no one noticed the finger of the headless vampire twitching.

…

Back in the imaginary place, Reimu, despite what she thought about this being an actual fight, was fighting in what seemed to be a danmaku fight, just with lethal projectiles. Sure, those spiky things fly at her pretty fast, but her experience with danmaku allowed her to dodge it without too much effort. Even the "gaps" that just appeared out of nowhere to shoot stuff at her weren't a huge problem, since they were more predictable than Yukari's. The monster that Selene brought through her portals to try and overwhelm her with number were quickly destroyed by barrages of needles.

Even though Reimu could defend herself, she couldn't exactly do much to the Herescher either. Any needles or talismans she threw were just absorbed by one of the portals and thrown off somewhere. And since she was technically in enemy territory, she wanted to refrain from pulling off any big moves. After all, she need to keep up a constant assault to keep the attention focused on her.

"You really are a persistent insect are you?" Selene commented as she opened up another void in space behind the shrine maiden to attempt to blast her to smithereens. Reimu threw a talisman over it, sealing it and stopping it from working, forcing the Herescher to close it since it was pointless to try and use it anymore. "Are you sure you weren't a cockroach in your previous life?"

"Actually, I checked in with the Yama." Reimu said. "She said I was a butterfly. A red-white one surprisingly enough."

"Well, I suppose I'll have to settle with you being a cockroach in your next life then." Selene flourished her hand, opening up dozens of portals behind her. "Not that you're much different from one now."

"I really don't like your attitude, bitch." However, Reimu found that she had a bit of trouble moving, though nowhere near enough for her to be unable to dodge. It seemed that the space around her was being restricted a bit. All she had to do was delve herself deeper into the power of flight to counteract it.

The massive barrage came, pounding the space around her into nonexistence. If it was the real world, there would be much left around her. However, the barrage did enough damage to break Reimu's barrier, since it wasn't the more well prepared one, and left Sakuya and the other venerable. While the devil's maid could dodge everything perfectly fine, with her dodging skills rivaling Reimu's with her time stopping, the two injured people were unable to.

Letting out a groan of frustration, Reimu rushed past the barrier right when it was at breaking point. Once she was in front of where Sakuya had placed the injured people, she turned around and placed the incoming barrage. "Dream Sign [Duplex Barrier]!" A rotating circular barrier formed in front of her and covered Theresa and Mei as the shrine maiden braved the unending barrage from the Herescher.

"Oi, Sakuya, do something oh will you? Don't just stand there." Reimu said to the stationary maid, who was taking advantage of the shrine maiden's barrier.

"I see no need for me to intervene. You have this under control." The maid started to show a bit of her sadistic tendencies, but it wasn't like she was wrong.

To both their surprises, a piece of paper drifted to them behind the barrier. On it was a note addressed to Reimu.

_Hey Reimu,_

_Don't you feel like that attack is like Gate of Babylon from Fate/stay night? You sure you don't want to call upon your Unlimited Blade Works soon?_

_Sanae_

"... How did she know what was going on here? And how did she send that note here?" The maid asked.

"Miracles."

"Right. So, are you going to do your thing?"

"What thing?" Reimu asked.

The silver-haired maid points towards the corners of the isolated space they were in. "I noticed you set something up, that, and I suppose you're not just going to stand by and wait for your barrier to break." Said barrier was already showing a few cracks. "Why haven't you activated it yet?"

"I'm waiting for the right moment." Reimu answered, gripping her hands tighter to mentally strength her barrier.

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"Hah! Do you think that you can last forever? My energy is unmatched in this space." Selene boasted while strengthening the power of her neverending attack.

That was exactly what Reimu was waiting for. Activating the talismans she had placed out as far as possible when she first entered the space, everyone's sights were engulfed by white light. "Divine Arts [Omnidirectional Oni-Binding Circle]!"

Once the light died down, everyone present found themselves no longer in the imaginary space Selene conjured up, nor, to Reimu's surprise, even in the Scarlet Devil Mansion. Instead, they found themselves situated on the massive deck of an airship.

That didn't stop the shrine maiden from carrying out with her original idea. "So...what was that about 'this space'? Don't see anything particular about it." Damn, it sounded to cheesy when she said it now. It definitely sounded better in her head. Sanae was a bad influence.

"Seriously?" Theresa was awake now, but in some serious pain. Her regeneration wasn't exactly that fast, so healing her missing arm was something that was rather difficult. "You prolonged a dangerous situation to use such a cheesy line?" Though Theresa wasn't exactly one to say anything with all her secret magical girl cosplaying. Still, the small-sized principal realized that they were on Schicksal ship, so that meant there were medical facilities. While both her and Mei would survive, both of them not being quite human, their injuries left them combat ineffective. Even if her usual fighting style involved chucking the cross on her back at the enemy, it was easier to chuck it with two hands. The hole in her stomach was just icing on the cake.

However, Selene seemed to not agree with her sentiment of her getting medical treatment, as void fissures opened up around them. While Theresa panicked, Reimu and Sakuya scoffed, each of them picking up one of the injured valkyries and "teleporting" themselves out of the encirclement before a destructed on them. "That was close."

The Herescher of the Void didn't seem particularly keen on letting them go, but that was before she found herself surrounded from all sides by dozens of knives.

"It is part of the obligations of those of the Scarlet family to return everything in equal value." Sakuya said as she smiled while letting the blades resume flying with a snap. Though her attack proved to be ineffective as the white-haired woman blinked out of the surrounded.

"Look likes we have another teleporter. Don't we have enough of those around here?"

"Probably not, since our dear gardener could probably run fast enough to catch up to people who can move across a space in a span of nonexistent time."

"True." Reimu agreed, knowing how ridiculously fast Youmu could run if she tried.

Reimu put Theresa down onto the ground, thinking internally how she was rather heavy for her size. "You're trying to get to your doctors right?" Reimu guessed there, relying on her gut feeling to scope out the valkyrie's intentions. She was right, as usual. "Then go there, but I have a feeling that you won't be getting the normal medical treatment."

"Yes, that is something I can agree with." Sakuya chimed in. "Though you should still better hurry. Some people do not like waiting." She pulled out numerous knives from under her maid skirt, despite their being no such objects there beforehand. "Well, let's have some fun, shall we?"

Theresa wasted no time picking Mei and dragging her away from the fight between maniacs. She figured out now that not only were the words of the Gensokyans incomprensible, their actions were too. She really didn't want to stay any longer. That, and she already had enough of fighting Kiana in Herescher form. She did not need any more of that.

And she certainly did not need to be seeing her legal grandfather on the way to the medical facility.

"Hello my dear granddaughter you are certainly looking much worse for wear. You sure you don't need treatment for that?" His annoying, arrogant voice was really grating on her nerves.

"Yes, I'm sure I do, so if you don't mind, could you get out of the way so I get some?" Theresa shot back angrily. Her extra bleeding did not make her attitude better.

"Yes, I suppose I can." He pulled out his copy of the 7th divine key and aimed it at the unconscious figure that was using the S-rank as support. "But she has to die."

Theresa reacted by pulling out the Oath of Judah and using its chains to bind the fallen Herescher to her while holding the massive cross portion out as a shield. "Why though!? She's not a threat to any of us."

"Well, you see, the bomb we had as insurance in her heart was removed." Theresa was slightly shocked to hear that. Mei was a diligent student, and an obedient one. Even if she decided to get it removed, she would've definitely informed just about everyone beforehand. Though it didn't explain why she was able to use copious amounts of electricity during her fight with Kiana. But how was it removed? She gasped as she thought of the one possible time it was removed.

The supposed doctor of Eintei, Eirin Yagokoro, suggested that she give them all a medical check-up in case any of them were reacting badly to Gensokyo's environment. While she didn't think there was anything wrong, she had already suspended her logic when it came to the rules of the land. As such, each person was isolated for around 10 minutes, along with a short time in which they were unconscious. If it was truly removed around that time, it meant that Eirin managed to remove a complex bomb that she likely had never seen before attached to the heart in less than 10 minutes, all without the specific equipment nor leaving any lasting scars or any indication that there was an operation. Mei didn't feel anything. Now Theresa was scared if the woman had done something to her.

"Still, her human side is still dominant. She has it under control." Theresa argued.

"But now there's nothing to keep her under control. I'm afraid we cannot let such a danger run wild in this world. A necessary death for mankind. Don't think I won't harm you to try and do it. After all, I had to kill an old friend of mine. A vampire." Theresa internally curse as she wracked her mind on what to do. She connected the dots, figuring that the vampire was Remilia. Her bastard of a grandfather probably just wanted another Herscher Core to experiment with. After all, while Mei was a Herescher, the power she could access was simply but a fraction of what a normal Herscher could tap into, something easily attainable by A-rank valkyries.

However, even in her normal state, she wouldn't be able to match her grandfather, not to mention while missing an arm while carrying someone. Practically, she would have no chance of victory, if it was her old self from 14 years ago, she might have just given up.

But this wasn't then. Ever since she thought Ceclicia died, she swore to never abandon anyone precious to her ever again, even if it costed her life. "Over my dead body."

Clearly, conventional tactics weren't going to work, so she was going to have to think outside the box. Time to take inspiration from those crazy magical girl moves she practiced in secret. She used her remaining hand to lift Oath of Judah up, and brought it smashing down on her target. "Oh symbol of judgement, come down upon my enemy! Judah Hammer!"

The archbishop, surprised by the nonsensical move, failed to collect his bearings properly and had to focus on dodging. Theresa grinned as her plan worked. Unfortunately for the Apocalypse patriarch, she had invested countless hours into her magical girl roleplaying, so she had no shortage of impractical moves to draw upon. She jumped into the air, using her weapon as a weight to send her crashing down towards her grandfather. "Fall from the sky and incinerate the evil! Judah Meteor!"

She gave him no time to relax as she pulled out on of the chains and used it to extend its swinging range. "Blow away the home of malice! Wrecking Ball of Judah!"

"What are thinking, using a divine key like a children's toy!? Do you know how valuable that is!?" Otto was aghast at her granddaughter's treatment of such an important artifact. "Do you know how much blood the previous users shed with that weapon to keep humanity safe!?"

Theresa didn't know, and quite frankly didn't care. The people who are dead are no longer a factor in how the world runs itself; she learned that the painful way. "At least the blood they shed was their own. Spin in justice, and for justice only! Judah Tornado!"

The S-rank valkyrie continued her string of unorthodox attacks. "Shine and blind all those who seek the Darkness! Light of Judah! And send my enemy into the realm of wishing they were dead! Judah's Unyielding Blow of Divine Punishment!"

Otto sighed, and Theresa immediately got chills from that and instinctively turned around to shield Mei from the blast of fire that came from that direction. "Shame. This would've all worked out well if you were just obedient it wouldn't have to end this way."

Theresa collapsed forward, her stomach feeling empty as she landed on the ground. She couldn't help but noticed the blood of her own blood spilling out under her. The man had shot her in the stomach.

"I'm sorry Theresa. But the Herescher has to die. It's just a shame you had to die along with her." Theresa tried to get up, wanted to get up, but her body simply wouldn't obey her. If she didn't move now, Mei would die. She couldn't let Mei die. She had to move. She knew that the stress she put on her body by using Oath of Judah recklessly and the shot from Otto put her in the grave, but all that meant was that she was dying anyways. She may as well die doing something worthwhile.

"_Move! Move! Move!_" She kept screaming that word in her head, but her body disagreed with her. She could only despair she felt the air around her heat up and the death blow be delivered. "_I'm sorry Celicia. I failed to trying to be the hero of the story._"

Expect it never came. Instead, what filled her vision was a massive black void. At first, she thought Selene(Kiana) was responsable, but the numerous eyes that decorated the space proved otherwise.

"Did our resident self-proclaimed hermit not inform you that being hypocritical drastically weakens your argument?" Otto spun around and fired his Shamash fake towards the direction of the voice, but instead only melted the wall.

"My, my. How rude. Is that how you greet your people when you enter their house?" Yukari instead walked out of the gap that she used to shield the St. Freya principal. "I'm almost scared to learn how other humans greet their guests."

Otto let out a chuckle, still maintaining his air of authority despite the weirdness that has graced his day so far. "You must be Miss Yukari Yakumo. To be honest, I expected you much earlier."

"First, it's Yukari-san. If you're going to someone else's home, you should follow their practices." Yukari replied, letting out an unnerving smile. "And about the delay. I'm sorry, but I had to take a bit of time to calm myself down so I didn't **wring your neck the moment I saw you**."

"Oh how scary." Otto said mockingly. "How might I spare myself from your wrath?"

"My, hold bold of you to assume such a thing exists." Yukari said. Then she leaned down and whispered to Theresa. "Go into the gap, it'll take you where you want to go. What you do after that is up to you."

Even though Theresa didn't particular trust Yukari, like any smart person, or a normal person who's been taken advantage of too many times, but at this point, she would make a deal with the devil if it meant achieving her goals, and Yukari's words were pretty inviting at this point in time. Besides, she was on death's door, and nothing was worse than death. So, without hesitation, she crawled through the gap, relying on the sheer strength of her fingers to pull her though. The gap closed soon after.

"I don't think you came here to chat, did you?"

Yukari nearly burst out laughing. "What are you talking about? That's exactly what I came here to do. But this deary place won't do. How about a change in scenery?" The gap youkai opened up one of her gaps and walked though. Otto was a cautious man, and would not dream of casually walking into enemy territory without sufficient preparation. Luckily, he didn't need to.

"Sir, there's a strange woman on the bridge. Some of our security forces attack in self defence, but they were destroyed. She has not made any other moves to attack anyone." One of the staff called in through the bridge. The archbishop decided to take to the long path there just to be safe.

…

Theresa wanted to thank Yukari, but she felt like that would go against some law of the world and she would receive divine punishment. The gap, even though it was creepy, brought her to the front door of the laboratory, which was also where the medical facility was, since most of the medical staff were scientists. After all, who better to fix valkyries than the ones who create them.

However, her hopes were dashed when the containment doors opened. The only reason she didn't throw up them and there was because of her hardened mentality of being a valkyrie so many years. She saw some pretty horrific sights when they didn't manage to get to civilians in time, but this was much, much worse.

She was grateful that Mei was not awake, because she would never wish for the girl to see this. Corpses laid about everywhere, blood painted the glass windows, and equipment were shelved in the flesh of the dead staff members. It was like a monster ran though here. Actually, it was worse. At least a monster would give a quicker death. Some people here clearly suffered before dying. Even a Herscher did not kill as messily like this.

"You're late." The culprit was sitting on one of the operating tables, swinging one of the corpses around with her petite hand.

"Remilia." Theresa instictly called out the name of the person idling in front of her life it was a day at the beach. "But Otto said you-"

"Please, you speak as if any vampire worth their salt will die from a hole in their chest or getting their head cut off." Remilia said, throwing in a few giggles to increase her creepiness factor. "There's a reason why people feared vampires, you know?"

Theresa was honestly scared of the vampire right now, but quite frankly her deathly feeling quelled any lingerings of fear from taking over. "Did you do this?"

"Hmm. So what if I did?" Remilia asked with a smug tone.

"How could you-"

"Do this?" The vampire finished for her. "Why are you so surprised? Is it really that incomprehensible for a vampire to kill humans? If I remember correctly, all your stories are based around our kind being vicious monsters that hunt innocent humans during the night. I don't see why you expected different."

"But how can you kill everyone so brutally like this!?" Theresa cried, not caring that it aggravated her wounds. "The people here were noncombatants!"

"You sure are naive, aren't you?" Remilia said in a voice that seemed to be of a parent lecturing a child. "Does it really matter if they're a noncombatant? Do you let a murder go because he was never trained in the art of fighting?"

"Even if we don't, that doesn't excuse killing them like this!"

"Death. Does it really matter how it happens?" Remilia hopped off the table and made her way towards the crawling valkyrie. "Death by hanging. Death by decapitation. Death by heart failure. Death by being mauled. Death by poison. Death by a stake to the heart. In the end you still die. The state of one's body matters not when the consciousness is gone."

"But-"

"Tell me." The vampire lean close, close enough to the point where Theresa could see the fangs and the pupils in her eyes. "What do you feel when some pathetic humans who are below you in every way to pick apart your body like puzzle, messing around with it until they could find something worthwhile. They probably took out my heart, lungs, kidney, even parts of my spine in the process. Mind you, I could feel all this. Do you think I should forgive the people that would commit such acts against me?"

Theresa was left speechless. For all she could preach the moral high ground, she couldn't deny that Remilia response was well-warranted. She was scared of the fact that she could have possibly acted the exact same if given the situation.

"But that I suppose isn't important anymore. They're dead. What's important is that, albeit barely, is that you're still alive." Remilia brushed her hand against the similarly sized girl's cheeks. "The people that can save you are rather limited. And that includes nobody from your side. And out of all of them, I find my offer the best. After all, making deals with Yukari or Eirin tend to have high risks."

"Offer?" From the vampire's words, it seemed that she could save her from her fatal wounds.

"Yes. The offer is simple. I make you a vampire."

"...what?"

"To put it simply, I make you a vampire, and you more or less have to serve me." Remilia said. "You get all the powers of a vampire, while keeping all your other ones as a … sub-human. You may even have enough power to subdue your supposed niece."

"What's the catch? The offer's too good to be true. It's like a deal with the devil." Theresa didn't have the energy to consider the fact that Remilia was called the Scarlet Devil.

"Well, that's for you to figure out. Besides, it's not like there's much to lose."

The offer was so tempting that Theresa almost felt like denying it out of spite. But the vampire was right. There was little to lose. At least if she was a vampire, she could still help. "Just one condition."

"Are you in a position to be making conditions?"

Theresa ignored her, like any good magical girl would. "No one precious to me will be harmed because of this."

"Ha! Even on death's door you're still worried about others." Theresa was worried for a second, but oddly enough the blue-haired vampire's grin calmed her down. "Don't worry. It would be boring if any of your friends were harmed in the process. If you're worried, I can swear, on the name of Remilia Scarlet, that I will not harm any of your friends, nor will the process of vampirfication."

"Alright then. I agree to your terms."

…

"This sure looks like a mess eh?" A middle-aged white-haired man said as he approached the warzone. "So much for being humanity's defenders. We aren't even fighting the honkai right now."

Siegfried Kaslana wondered what that archbishop was doing this time. He still hadn't forgiven the man for killing off the mother of his daughter. He dismissed any complex thoughts as he made his way to the land of fantasy.

"Well, time go to back into Hell again." Little did he know, a girl with the same colored hair in the land of spirits said the exact same thing.


	10. Chapter 9

Youmu leaned back a bit, narrowly dodging the reaping scythe that came her way. She was engage in a fight with S-rank valkyrie, Rita Rossweisse, and things weren't exactly the most favorable right now.

First, Rita also used a melee weapon, so the rush the gardener had been using for the other wasn't working very well. Her weapon also made more of a base range. Additionally, she was a maid. But what was even more frustrating to deal with was the fact that she couldn't deal lethal injuries. For some reason, she was on the "don't kill" list made by Yukari.

However, Youmu was not the best person to call upon if they wanted their enemy in one piece. All she knew was how to cut. Sure, she could block all of Rita's attacks, but she couldn't make an offensive.

"Come on, you're never going to win if you don't go on the offensive." Rita was taunting her, and if it was any of the hotheads, they probably would have been provoked. But Youmu was one of the most uptight people in the world, so she remained calm.

However, due to the pressure Rita exerted, Youmu couldn't stop all the forces from making it past her. If she turned her back, the maid was more than guaranteed to take advantage of that.

Youmu once again parried the scythe away, avoiding the sharp blade that could pierce through mech armor like it was butter, but in the process let a few more mechs get through.

Youmu decided to settle for cutting both her legs off. If she rushed her over to Eirin fast enough, she should be able to survive the blood loss. "Human Sign-"

"Stop!" Kallen cried out from higher on the steps, standing on top of destroyed mechs and unconscious valkyries. "We don't need to be fighting anymore."

"Ah, Miss Kallen Kaslana. Archbishop Otto has spoke highly of you. It is an honour to finally meet you." Rita said with a bow. Youmu didn't attack her during this time, likely due to her warrior honor. "He has sent me here to retrieve you."

"Was sending an entire army necessary?" Kallen asked, full well knowing that the answer was yes. "I'll come along, but Sakura's coming with me." She gestured towards the pink-haired miko behind her.

She thought the maid might reject having her tag along, but she agreed. "Very well, I see no problem with that arrangement."

"Wait." Yuyuko floated down the steps, not needing to step on them since she was fully ethereal. "Me and Youmu are coming along. After all, we can't just leave out guests hanging."

"Yuyuko-sama, are you-"

"Sure. I see no problems with it. Now come, I will lead you to the archbishop." The maid paved the way for the four, seeming to not care that one of them had killed a fair share of her allies.

…

Yukari calmly sipped her tea as she watch Otto walk into the room, his gun point right at her head. "It's very rude to be late, especially when I went through the trouble to telling you my location."

"I haven't lived this long by being reckless."

"Yes. How long? Was it around 547 years, 3 months, and 13 days, 4 hours, 24 minutes, and 8 seconds?" Yukari asked while chuckling. "I suppose it is a long time by human standards."

"Human standards." Otto repeated. "Are you suggesting you're not human?"

"Human. Yes, human. Why don't you answer this?" Yukari raised her finger up like a teacher, but sat down on one of her gaps. "What does it mean to be human?"

"What are you on about?"

"It's just a simple question." Yukari said. "Surely the supposed smartest person would know the answer."

"Simple." Otto said confidently. "To be human is to be human. To live our life as a human should, to struggle as a human should, and to thrive as a human should."

"I would say that's an interesting answer, if it weren't for the fact that I've heard it before." Yukari said. "I believe both Kevin Kaslana and MR MEI said something similar."

Otto was instantly on guard, more so than earlier. To him, no one should've known what happened before the 14th Herescher of the Old World destroyed the world. He should've been the only one that knew the existence of those two, besides maybe Fu Hua, but she was experiencing memory loss.

"What are you here for? I'm sure you didn't come here to talk."

"What are you talking about? That's exactly what I came here for. Now sit down. It might take a while. And don't think you're going to be able to kill me with that knockoff of yours."

Otto decided to sit down, though he made sure to send out orders to have at least half a hundred highly destructive weapons pointed at the woman.

"Now, where to start?" Yukari said to herself. "Right, when the world ended. Surely you should know of the incident. After all, it did more or less kill everyone. Oh, and don't worry, you can dispose of the people listening to this. I won't stop you."

"Why are you bringing that up?"

"Yes, well, there's just a few questions that really need an answer." Yukari pulled out her fan, using it to cover her mouth. "Tell me, after the 14th Herscher reset the world, how many humans were left?"

"Why should I disclose that?"

"Well, if you don't, this conversation will never progress, and you'll lose out on some important facts that could help you later on."

Otto, upon hearing that about new information, was hooked. He could play along at least. It seemed that he wouldn't be revealing anything the other person didn't know. "There were three. Fu Hua, Nuwa, and Fuxi."

"Now, what were the gender of all these people?"

"They were all female, of course."

"Now, tell me. How do three females repopulate the human race?"

"What are you talking about? They didn't…" Otto then realized what she was asking. While Fu Hua and the others' survival could be explained, how were there other humans? Since the Herescher killed off all life, it meant that there was the possibility that humans could never exist in the new world by the theory of evolution. That was something that DR MEI probably didn't account for. But there were humans, but from some unknown source. The 1st God Key gave him knowledge, but it was lacking in this area. However, he still didn't have an answer.

"Well, how about another question?" Yukari decided to move on when it seemed that Otto knew what she was asking, but couldn't answer. "You came here desperate to utilize the abilities of magic. But surely it should have been part of humanity's history, so why did the 1st God Key not tell you of it?"

Otto was stumped. Sure, humanity had a history of suspicions of magic, but no true demonstration. That's why he thought it was all hogwash. The closest thing to magic was the honkai. But here, there was clearly magic, completely unrelated to the honkai. How did humanity miss over such a thing?

"Well, one last question. Why do you think you never found this place, despite having control over the spot of land Gensokyo occupies?"

Otto let his thoughts run, trying to figure out how these seemingly unrelated things connected to each other. Yukari was leading a trail of breadcrumbs, and he need to trace it.

To his surprise, Theresa walked into the bridge, though her expression looked worse for wear, though her stature seemed better than ever. "You got a lot of explaining to do."

"My dear granddaughter. What have you done to yourself?"

"Not much. Just made a deal with the deal." Theresa said. "Similar to what you did, but I'm paying the price, not someone else."

"Oh, and I thought our dear Satori warned you against such dealings." Yukari said with a fake hurt tone. "Such things tend to fill you with regret in the long run."

"Hmph! As if-" However, the loli principal remembered what Yukari said before she went through the gap. "Wait! You knew this would happen!"

"Oh, what on earth could you mean?" Yukari was playing the innocent card, probably just for the laughs.

"You knew that Remilia was alive, and that she would offer to turn me into a vampire! That's why you said I wouldn't be getting treatment in the normal sense!"

"Wait, how can the vampire be alive? She got her head cut off." Otto said.

"You speak as if I would die from a simple decapitation." Remilia stated as she walked into the room rather gracefully. "Or a hole to the chest."

Theresa pointed her cross at Yukari. "How did you know what would happen?"

Yukari could only laugh. "Did you really think it was mere coincidence that you met Remilia the way you did?" Theresa was clearly confused by her statement. "Well, let's trace the steps, shall we? Ceclica, Himeko, and Bronya went to stay at Eirin's due to their medical conditions. Kallen and Sakura went to stay with Yuyuko since that's the safest place, or at least one of. That left you to be the only person that could stay with Mei, who the Herescher of the Void was targeting. Thanks to that, you get sucked into imaginary space with her. Remilia barged in here unprepared and get her head chopped off. Normally she'd regenerate immediately, but she waited until she was transported to the medical room. The Herescher dealt quite heavy injuries to you, but Reimu came in and brought you out of imaginary space. However, don't you think it was weird that you popped out on a Schicksal battleship instead of the mansion? One that so conveniently is the one with Remilia in the medical bay, where you needed to go in order to treat your injuries, going as far as to meet your grandfather, who only made your injuries worse? That needs at least 4 coincidences, which is a bit much."

"You're … saying … that is … was all … planned?

"Not necessarily." Remilia said. "I just manipulated fate so that it would put you in a situation where you can't turn down my offer."

"Fate? What the hell are you talking about!? How can you manipulate something like fate? That's incomprehensible!" Theresa shouted back.

Hearing Theresa's final comments, Otto put the puzzle together. "Wait, if there's incomprensible things here, then it makes sense that there'd be something that protected it from influence from the world outside, why magic can exist here. That's why it was never found. The Herescher didn't see it was part of the world, so it wasn't destroyed along with the rest of the world. Since there were humans living here, then the humans that currently populate the globe are all from the people here. The people here who survive 50000 years ago moved out and populated the world."

"Mostly correct." Yukari gave him a light clap. "It's not that the Herescher didn't see it as part of the world. It's just that the shrine maiden was strong enough to repel the damage that hit the rest of the world."

"Wait, for you to know it without the 1st God Key, that must of meant-"

"Yes, it was quite a pretty site, watching the land split apart and burst into pieces." Yukari said. "So yes, I am more than 50,000 years old."

"You still say you're 17 though." Remilia commented.

"Do you need me to throw you over to the Hell Raven?"

"All I did was state a fact." The vampire argued. "Though you should take something into account. Gensokyo has yet to change during that time. We are a land that sticks to the status quo. Everyone here who fights the honkai also fought them 50000 years ago."

"Wait." Theresa stopped the conversation to ask the question on from what she could figure out from listening in on their conversation. "If you were alive all that time ago, couldn't you have stop this Herescher from destroying the world?"

"I suppose I could have." Yukari said casually.

"Why didn't you!?"

"Well, I suppose it's because, I thought it was interesting to see humanity get destroyed."

Silence flooded the room as Yukari gave her reason. Otto took it in rather well, but Theresa was a whole other story. "Can you repeat that?"

"I was simply curious how it would be like if humanity was wiped out."

"So you just watched the world get destroyed for entertainment!?"

"Yes." Yukari answered in a light manner. "Is there something wrong with that?"

Theresa didn't even know where to start with how wrong that was. "Are you seriously asking me that? How could you do something so-"

"Inhumane?" Yukari finished for her. "My, my, you have no idea how badly I want to laugh right now. You would think after meeting Remilia and others, you wouldn't assume that I was human, nor that I actually cared about what happened with humanity."

"You-"

"And that what's what makes me more of a monster than your grandfather." Yukari said, chuckling towards Otto. "At least everything he does is supposedly for humanity's sake, or at least tries. It's just that humanity suffers when he fails. The survival of humanity for me, is more or less a … minor concern."

Theresa couldn't come up with much of retort as the bridge window shattered as Reimu and Sakuya both gracefully landed besides the group having a conversation. "Oi, Yukari, a little help here?"

"Reimu, shouldn't such a foe be easy for you to deal with?"

"Yeah, if I wanted to bomb Gensokyo to oblivion." Reimu shot back against the gap youkai. "I don't have the money to pay for property damage."

"Hey, Reimu-san." Theresa got the attention of the shrine maiden. "Did you know about what Yukari-"

"Oh, you mean her letting the outside world get wrecked?" Reimu asked. "Yeah, I knew about it, but only after the fact. Information doesn't tend to travel well across a conceptual barrier." She then turned towards the purple-eyed youkai. "You mind explaining why we're in this mess? We're the ones dealing with it."

"Yes, that is something I should also explain. Though first things first, Ran." The nine-tailed fox popped out from one of Yukari's gaps. "Kindly entertain that nuisance. I'd prefer to explain uninterrupted."

"Yes, Yukari-sama." Ran leaped out towards the Herescher of the Void, probably to punch her in the face.

"You plan on starting anytime soon?" Remilia asked.

"Now, now, what's the rush?" Yukari said. "We still have a few more people to wait for."

…

Reisen shoved the muzzle of her rifle against the metal head of the mech, blowing it off while dodging another swing from Durandal. She fired a few shots at her, but they were all blocked easily by her lance. She wanted to bring something like the anti-tank gun out, but that would cause too much property damage. Eirin hated her facility getting wrecked.

Not that it was faring well right now.

"A human with rabbit ears. What sort of experiments are they running in this place?" Durandal asked, seeing that Reisen was clearly intelligent enough for conversation.

"Excuse me!" Reisen shot back, offended. "I was born with these ears. As for the experiments, well, I'd rather not disclose them. They aren't exactly for the faint of heart." She definitely couldn't reveal how embarrassing some of them were for her since she was the prime test subject.

"Well then, if that is the case, how can they be stopped?" The S-rank valkyrie clearly misunderstood her and thought the experiments were so horrific the rabbit girl couldn't reveal them.

"Well … you sort of blew off the head of the person who usually ran them." Reisen admitted. Though she mentally thought to herself how that wasn't going to change anything.

"I see. Then where is-"

"I'm here." Celicia walked out from one of the patient rooms, holding a rapier in hand. Even if the weapon looked normal, it definitely wasn't, since few things in Gensokyo were. "I assume you're looking for me."

"Yes. It is an honour to meet you, Celicia Schariac." Durandal said. "Though I must ask you to come back with me."

"Yes, that's what I was planning on doing." The legendary woman said. "I have some things to talk about with Otto after all. But you should watch out behind you."

"What?" Durandal didn't have time to turn around as an arrow found its way to her shoulder. She found Eirin, who she was sure she had killed earlier, standing there with a bow in hand. "How are you alive?"

"I'm afraid few people of this land die from simply getting their head removed." Eirin said. "I happen to not be included in such. Also, you might want to stop resisting. The arrow I just shot at you is coating in a muscle relaxer, a very potent one. Even someone like you would find yourself unable to move."

On cue, Durandal found it rather hard to move properly. Thankfully, the honkai energy in her body and her natural strength worked against it, but she was at best half strength, and she was still losing some.

"Still, I don't pride myself in senseless killing. If you would be so kind as to guide us to your leader, that would be appreciated. The princess is quite interested in meeting him."

Seeing that her options weren't exactly plentiful, the valkyrie went along, given the fact that she would still be accomplishing her task if she did so. She did not have the confidence to beat the supposed legendary woman in her current state.

"Master, where's Mokou?"

"That girl said she needed to see someone, and left the moment her head regenerated."

…

Fu Hua did have a hard time believing things right now. If she wasn't questioning why they were attacking Gensokyo, she sure as hell was asking why a Herescher's subordinate just showed up on their front door.

A silent agreement was made, or at least as silent as a girl with massive raven wings stomping around cout get, to stop fighting and deal with the honkai dragon together. She had somehow managed to convince the raven girl to refrain from using explosive attacks to avoid collateral. All it resulted in was a brawl where the two tested who could hit harder. It was actually hard to tell at this point.

"Fu Hua." The martial artist turned around to Mokou gliding down to her position. She had no clue what she was doing here, or how she was even here.

"How are you still alive? Durandal said she killed you."

"I'm a lot harder to kill than you think." Mokou said. "Still, it's been a while."

"A while?" The white-haired woman spoke as if they were friends. She turned over to see if Okuu could manage a while without her. "Apologies, but I don't think we've met."

However, the response she got was a sigh. "So the rumor that you were suffering from memory loss was true, huh? Maybe you should get the doctor to look at you."

"Excuse me, but I don't really follow."

"Whatever. I'm not good with explaining things." Mokou denied her the explanation. "Besides, I'm getting the idea that what's happening in there," she pointed towards the flagship, "is a lot more important that the nonsense that went down 50,000 years ago. Hey, hell raven! Can you handle the dragon for a while!?"

"Yup! Got it under control!" The hell raven screamed back before giving her opponent the taste of her right arm cannon.

"Alright. Let's get there. You definitely want to be there." Mokou said before flying off in the direction of the flagship. While she was tempted to stay where she was, the white-haired woman was likely a threat, and it seemed that the hell raven was no longer her problem, so she followed after her.

…

Everyone nervously sat in the wrecked bridge of the Schicksal flagship. Outside, the nine-tailed kitsune was fighting the Herescher, using her ridiculous calculation abilities, illusion, and physical ability to keep her in check. Just in case Reimu was cast a barrier to prevent any stray attacks from hitting anyone.

Slowly, other people trickled into the bridge. Rita brought back the group from the Netherworld, exciting Otto though it seemed a fox-eared girl was not very happy. The Eintei group arrived soon after, along with Bronya and Himeko who were staying with them but was out of the fight. Fu Hua and Mokou arrived before them. For some reason, Alice and Marisa burst into the room, for no reason than why not. Mei woke up and joined the meeting.

"Are you going to begin?" Otto asked impatiently. Even if he was one of the world's most self-controlled man, he still couldn't deny his curiosity.

"Now, now. What's the rush? It's not like you're getting older." Yukari said. "Besides, we're still waiting for someone."

On cue, the doors to the bridge burst open. Everyone was prepared to fight, only to find a number of charred honkai beasts at their doorstep instead. "Hello, hope I didn't miss out on anything."

"Siegfried?" Celica was rather shocked. While he did look older than she remember, it was definitely her husband that was standing there. It had been more than a decade.

"Ceclica? But you…"

"Shut it you pervert." Theresa cut him off. "Though nice of you to join us. Now close your mouth so this woman can actually start explaining why she started this mess."

"But-"

"Do you need me to do the Judah Ballbuster?"

"Nope." The Kaslana immediately shut up after that.

"You wanna start now?" Reimu asked. "It's rare for you to explain anything to anyone."

"Well, I'm afraid most of my audience is human, so they would be unable to comprehend it on their own." Yukari said. While her words may have sounded like a insult, her tone suggested that she was dead serious when she said that. "Though I suppose I should start since everyone necessary is here. Though I prefer you guys don't point guns at each other. Dying during story time would just be a sad way to go."

"Just get on with it." Reimu said.

"Right." Yukari closed her fan with a snap, pulling out a whiteboard and began writing on it. "First question. Why is Schicksal here?" Everyone groan when they realized how this was going to go.

"Really Yukari?" Reimu asked.

"Yes. You really need to know how to take detours. Life is so boring without them."

"Wasn't it because Otto wanted to take over to research the ability of magic and use them against the honkai?" Theresa asked. However, to most people's surprise, the gap youkai shook her head.

"Is it not because subject GAP wanted to examine some of our weapons, and got tracked instead?" Bronya asked. Another head shake.

"Maybe it's because Kallen-san was here?" Mei suggested, though it was shot down.

Luckily, one person that wasn't Gensokyan figured it out. "It's because she lured us here. She intend to have me come here from the very beginning."

"Ding! Ding! Ding! You're correct." Yukari mocked clapped. "Though I'm surprised you only figured it out now. I suppose someone who manipulates so much struggles to notice when they've been manipulated."

"But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Well, you see, last time humanity was destroyed," Yukari got a few weird looks from the people who still weren't aware of what happened 50,000 years ago, but she didn't care. "It was boring. There was nothing to do since all the humans were dead. Even sharing a bed with Reimu got old after long enough."

"Yukari-"

"So this time around I wanted to stop humanity from going to extinct this time around. Watching the world live on was something I could use to entertain myself. I would've died from boredom if I had to watch humanity slowly rebuild itself again. So, I decided to even the odds. I was going to try and introduce magic to humanity in the outside world."

"But, I couldn't just give it to you for free." Yukari continued. "After all, humans are unpredictable. So I decided to test them. I tested them to see how human they were after fighting for their lives for centuries."

"Test?"

"Yes." Yukari was almost chuckling. "Humans are a interesting phenmonen. Sometimes they use justified violence to achieve their needs, or even kindness. But even more than that, they would perform actions that went against logic, things that would not be a reasonable answer to the situation. Such as doing kindness for nothing I return. So I decided to test the least humane human in the current world."

"Which is this guy." The white-haired Kaslana, Schraic, and Apocalypse warriors all pointed towards the archbishop. Otto didn't even denied it.

"Yes. The most cold, calculating human around. Willing to commit cold-hearted murder for the sake of mankind. Everything based on moral-less decision for maximum benefit to humanity." Yukari described the man to a tee. "It was quite inhuman. I started to lose my faith in humanity."

"You speak as if you had any to begin with." Reimu said.

"So, dangling out the lure of a power beyond human comprehension yet unrelated to honkai, Otto would definitely grab the bait." Yukari continued, though giving Reimu a wink. "From there, he would have two options. One was subjugate the area, though one can see how that went, or he could come in peace and try and work out an agreement. Of course, he likely never considered that possibility because treating those people like human beings would greatly slow down any sort of research to be done, so the best choice for humanity was subjugation. Since he had two choices, we would also have two responses. If he attacked, we would've responded with our own, taking down you guys enough to the point where you no longer wanted to fight. However, if you had chosen peace-

I would've willing embarked a good deal of magic upon your people for free."

Everyone fell silent at her declaration. They all understood what she said, though a good number had difficulty letting it sink in. Yuyuko let out her own chuckle, understanding that her friend was the type of person to come up with something like this.

Had they decided to come in peace, they would've got what they wanted without a fight, or even any cost. Trying to do things peacefully would definitely be the more morally correct route to take, though was more risky in terms of succeeding. After all, they had little to no knowledge of how Gensokyo worked. People feared what they did not understand. But if they had decided to put that aside and show non-violence towards something foreign, they would've ended with a much better result. But since Otto Apocalypse decided to take what seemed to be the best way for humanity to obtain the knowledge without obstacle, they were denied that chance.

"You're lying." Otto stated calmly. There was no way this woman would offer such a thing so willing for such a stupid reason.

"She's not." Practically every Gensokyan said.

"It sounds just like her to do this sort of nonsense." Marisa commented.

"Oh? And where's your proof?" Otto countered.

"We don't need proof." Alice said. "We don't judge based on physical concepts here. And Yukari is very well capable of commit crime without even Gods knowing the better. I'm surprised she hasn't done anything right now."

"Oh, and what makes you think I haven't done anything." Yukari said, chuckling quite maliciously. "I still haven't quite forgiven you for releasing that in Gensokyo."

"Yukari. What did you-"

Another set of alarms blared this time, the same as when the Herescher of the Void came into Gensokyo.

"Sir archbishop! We have detected another Herescher being born!"

"What!? Where!?" Otto didn't have time to worry about the fact that there were two Herescher on the Earth right now, which was not how the honkai worked.

"... In New Zealand."


	11. Chapter 10

Aya debated what exactly Yukari was thinking when she told the crow tengu to travel all the way to New Zealand and agitate a girl who she could feel the presence of some divine wind from. The only reason why she even listen was because Yukari offered to give her some leads in the future for her newspaper. As manipulative as the gap hag was, she was one to follow through on her promises.

Sighing as she watched the wind tear apart the land beneath, she wondered if she could somehow turn this into an article. Something along the lines of "Human Girl Wielding Divine Wind Trashes the Outside World". That would definitely rake in the subscribers. It's not Divine Wind? Well, it is more like Wind of Divine Destruction, since surely there was some secret cult that worshiped the Honkai as gods. Maybe that should be her next article.

Right, she should get some interviews, have the opinions of some first hand witnesses. Surely that will increase credibility. Though she never understood why everyone thought her articles were hogwash, and over-exaggerated. She only ever reported the truth. "So, sir, so you mind giving your opinion on the event? What exactly do you think of the birth of a new Herescher?"

"Help… me." Aya then noticed that the man was missing the lower half of his body, dragging himself towards her in hopes that the reporter could help him before he bleeded out.

"Sorry, not in my job description." Aya stated. "But I will take that interview statement though." Aya didn't get a response, since the man died right after. Sighing, Aya took off, presumably to see if anyone else was still alive for her to interview. Worst comes to worst, she'd have to interview the center of the storm, and it didn't look like she had a good temper.

* * *

"Yukari…" Reimu broke the silence that fell upon the bridge. "What did you do **this time**?"

"Oh Reimu." Yukari said back in a sickeningly sweet tone, with some obvious fake innocence. "What makes you think **I **did anything?"

Reimu looked at those present in the room, checking to see who wasn't here. Quite a few troublemakers were out, but she decided to trust her gut feeling on who was responsible, despite not having an evidence. "Aya?" All she got was another smile from Yukari. Great, she now had to solve whatever problem Yukari had cooked up in her spare time. "Alright, sound the YUKARI alarm."

"YUKARI alarm?"

"Yes, the **Y**ukari **U**sed god-**K**illing powers to **A**nnoyingly **R**aise an **I**ncident alarm."

"..." A shot of pure fire went Yukari's way, actually hitting her this time. More like two shots, or four really, since both Otto and Siegfried shot at her.

"I'm debating how stupid you have to be if you think a little bit of heat can kill me." Yukari said as she came out of the blast unscathed, even her clothes were untouched. "I suppose I'll sleep on it." The gap youkai disappeared through a gap, presumably to actually go back to sleep.

"Well, that's good and all, but me and my maid need to go home and have dinner now." Remilia said. "And my new servant. Don't feel stressed to obey my orders now. I can wait a few years if you want a bit of freedom." She said to Theresa before flying out the window, her maid following her.

"Yes. I believe it is lunch for me as well. Let's go Youmu." Slowly but surely, all the Gensokyo residents began trickling out of the bridge, not caring that Yukari may or may not have just signed a death warrant on the world. More like she made Aya do it, but same thing. The members of Schicksal didn't exactly know what to do. They had two Hereschers to deal with at once for crying out loud. Even the old age probably didn't have to deal with this. This practically betrayed the system at which honkai function.

"Wait! Are you all just leaving this problem alone!?" Theresa cried, aghast that all the Gensokyans seemed to just be leaving and going home.

"Yes, they are." Reimu said, pretty much being the last one left. "Once we rid Gensokyo of the honkai and this Herescher, there is nothing else for us to do."

"But what about the one in the outside world!?"

"What about it?" Reimu countered. "It's outside. It has nothing to do with Gensokyo."

"So you're just going to sit here while the world is in peril!?"

"I don't see why not." Reimu answered. "It's not any of Gensokyo's business, nor is it any of mine."

"What if the world is destroyed because you didn't help!?"

"Then I guess Yukari will have to wait another 50,000 years to have her fun."

Theresa wanted to scream, wanted to ask if Reimu was insane. Did she really care so little for the greater world? Was this little patch of land all that really mattered to her? This land… Theresa formed an idea in her head. "What if the 4th Herescher came into Gensokyo?"

Reimu sighed, not even shocked of what she was implying. "I can't stop you from trying, but do know that Yukari will probably not stand by and watch if you even had the _slightest _possibility of succeeding. And for the record, the gap hag cares less about human life than I do."

Theresa almost scoffed. "You say as if she can kill me instantly-"

"She can kill you instantly." Reimu said without hesitation. "And your grandfather, and just about everyone in this room but me."

Theresa fell silent. The confidence that Reimu sported in her statement made her as far as can be from a liar. Besides, it didn't seem like the Shamash ripoff even did anything to her.

"Is it impossible for you to do anything?" Cecilia spoke up. "Surely there is something you can do to help people who just want to live their lives normally."

"If you want help that bad, ask the stupid monk." Reimu said back in minor annoyance. "If anyone would be willing to help you, it would be her. If you don't have any other business, I suggest you do what you need to do."

"But-"

"That's enough Cecilia." Siegfried interjected and stopped the conversation from going further. "Miss Hakurei, I believe it was, I'm afraid we're going to be taking our leave."

"Yeah, just get out already."

"Shame too. If I wasn't married, I would definitely take you out-" A yin-yang orb crashed through the roof and landed next to him, silencing him. Reimu gave him one of the world's scariest death glares before flying out, her being the Gensokyans that was on the ship.

"...Let's just get back to the Hyperion first." Theresa suggested.

…

"Sorry, but I can't help you." Those were the words that none of the Hyperion crew wanted to hear from Byakuren. They did not expect the one person that might of been able to help denying it.

"What!?" Theresa cried out in response. "Why won't you!?"

"It's not that she won't, but she can't." Miko said as she entered Byakuren's room.

"She can't?"

"Who do you think are the strongest people in Gensokyo?" Miko asked, sitting herself comfortably and taking the monk's cup of tea. "The ones that hold the most power?"

"Uhh…" No one really knew due to never coming into contact with Gensokyo's political sphere.

"And no, it's not political power." Miko said. "Such a thing doesn't exist in Gensokyo. Our power is not determined by authority. Our authority is determined by our power. And the two people that basically dictate Gensokyo are the gap hag and shrine maiden." Miko sighed, letting out an air of exhaustion despite looking as young as ever. "The shrine maiden isn't a problem. But the gap hag...if it was just Byakuren herself, she would still help you, but it's not just herself. If she helps you, it is likely that hag would cast all of Byakuren's followers out of Gensokyo, and keep Byakuren here just to make her suffer."

"Why would she do that? It doesn't affect her."

"It affects Gensokyo." Miko said. "Besides, she did say she was not on humanity's side. Do you really think she'd be so kind after your friends invaded Gensokyo?"

"..."

"Let's cut this meeting short." Byakuren spoke up and opened the door to her room. "I fear it's only a matter of time Reimu sends the Herescher here to the outside world. If you want any hope in keeping your world safe, you need to leave as soon as possible."

"Send?" Theresa questioned. "She can do that."

"This is her domain." The monk explained. "Kicking people out is quite easy for her."

"Dammit."

"Well, for what it's worth, if you ever need to take refuge in my temple, I will welcome you with open arms." Byakuren assured. "As long as you don't cause trouble for this land, you can freely come and go."

"Theresa, let's go back." Cecilia offered. "I don't think we should impose on them any longer."

"I know." Theresa responded, frustrated, as she lead the way back to the Hyperion.

…

"At least she was kind enough to return all the stolen property." Theresa commented as she sat in the command seat in the bridge. Truthfully, she would let Cecilia sit there instead given that she was technically stronger than her, but it appeared to be more of a burden than a blessing to her.

"Well, I suppose that means we won't be dying due to lack of equipment." Himeko commented. "We'll just be dying because there's a damn Herescher out there. Two in fact. And if Otto being Otto, it's probably one of the stronger ones."

"And that bastard doesn't seem to be planning to move from here." Theresa added on. "For whatever goddamn reasons he has, so we're going to be limited in what we can do. From what Byakuren has told us, Reimu is going to be throwing out Kiana into the outside world, which means the world would be bearing the brunt of two Herescher at a time. Now, the question is what we should do."

"Should we split up then?" Cecilia suggested.

Theresa shook her head. "That's not gonna fly. All three of us nearly died trying to take down the 2nd Herescher. If we do that, we might not win either fight. We're better off focusing on one and taking them out, then dealing with the other."

"Maybe we should enlist the help of Anti-Entropy." Siegfried suggested. "I doubt our relationship could get any worse with Otto anyways."

"I'm not sure…"

"I would advise against such an idea." Heads turned towards the origin of the new voice.

"Class Monitor!" "Fu Hua!"

"From Otto's sources, Anti-Entropy is split between two factions. Trying to get help from them could have later consequences down the line." Fu Hua continued explaining. "It will only bring more trouble."

"And why should we trust you?" Himeko asked.

Fu Hua said nothing, instead throwing a keycard towards Theresa. "That should give you authority to move whatever forces are left at the main branch, as well as accessing the labs. Get the rest of the forces and concentrate on taking down the Herescher in New Zealand."

"Then what about Kiana?" Mei asked.

"I'll hold her off." Fu Hua said. "It should provide you guys a bit more time to track down the other Herescher and take care of her."

"By yourself!?" Mei exclaimed. "That's suicide!"

To everyone's surprise, Fu Hua started laughing. "Look at who you're talking to, Mei-san. Aren't you aware death is a relief to an immortal?"

"Immortal?"

Fu Hua thought back to her talk with Mokou before she came here.

"_Oi! Jingwei!" Mokou called out to Fu Hua as she left the battleship for some time to ponder on her own actions._

"_How do you know that name?" Fu Hua asked back._

"_Come, we've met before." The white-haired immortal said. "Back on the beach, a couple of tens of thousands of years ago?"_

"_You were alive back then?"_

"_Please, a good portion of everyone here was alive back then. Most of those ya see here don't die a natural death. Not even Reimu, since she pretty much became the deity of this land, since it housed the entire human population for a time."_

"_So, should I know anyone else?"_

"_Nah. I was the only one to go exploring after the world ended and what not. For what it's worth, I think those times were more peaceful and less complicated."_

_Fu Hua let out a sigh. "I hate to agree. Things were just so much simpler then. So, if you know my old name, then you must know that-"_

"_You were an immortal? Yeah. Don't think you ever figured out I was one. Supernatural perception wasn't exactly your thing, nor was it Nuwa's or Fuxi's. You probably just didn't care about me since you thought I would be dead in a few decades."_

"_I'm afraid you didn't get me clues for me to think otherwise." The ex-immortal commented._

"_Right." The immortal chuckled. "So, how does it feel like to have royally fucked up?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_You did something that wasn't really the morally right thing to do what you thought was right, that you thought you were justified in doing, but now all you can do is regret it."_

"_...If I didn't know better, I'd say this was coming from personal experience."_

"_It is. Except, my actions were for a much less just cause than yours. I can truthfully say you're still better than me, even if your actions might be responsible for ending the world."_

"_Are you complimenting me or insulting me? The boundary tends to blur when it comes to people from Gensokyo."_

"_Does it really matter?" Mokou said as she took out a cigar and lit it with her fingers. "Some people take compliments as insults, while others take insults as compliments. In the end, it depends on the person. And that's what matters." _

"_And what about it?"_

"_I believe-no, I know you're a good person, and all you want to do is to protect the people of the outside world. The only reason you listen to that son of a bich is because it's what you thought was best at the time. But now, it doesn't seem to be so anymore. So, __**now **__what you do think is the best thing to do?"_

"_...I … don't really know."_

"_Don't worry! Being indecisive comes along with living a stupidly long time. At least for supposedly normal people." Mokou laughed as her own joke of being a normal person. Then she took out what looked like some sort of empty vial. She cut her palm open and let the blood spill into the vial before sealing it. "Here, take this."_

"_This is?"_

"_My blood. I just fucking cut myself, did you not see?"_

"_No. I mean, why are you giving me this?"_

"_If you drink this, you will get your old powers back. Given my powers are similar to yours, you drinking it will have that effect. At least the stupid doctor says so. If she's lying, I'm going to have to go torch their place later. Listen, you can still make up for your mistake, fix what you've done. If you need more power, then use this. But-"_

"_But what?"_

"_Your life will be forfeit the moment you take it."_

"Ex-immortal." The class monitor clarified. "I've been alive since the Old Era. My entire life has been dedicated to the preservation of humanity. I just thought I should do something that I think is right rather than what the Archbishop thinks is right before I go."

"Wait, what do you mean 'before you go'?" However, Fu Hua didn't answer her, and left the battleship promptly. None of them had the confidence to stop her either. She was gone, like an ember that had finally burnt out.


	12. Chapter 11

"Don't you think you have better things to do than to mess around with humans?" Yukari reared her head to be greeted by a fake hermit entering Mayohiga.

"Oh, my dear Kasen." Yukari greeted back. "Of course I do. However, teasing them is just so fun, isn't it?" 

"I doubt that teasing is the equivalent of making an attempt on dooming their world." Kasen argued. "Besides, you lied back there. You didn't watch the world get destroyed." Kasen held her gaze intently, not willing to fall for Yukari's trap of changing the topic.

"What in the world do you mean?" Yukari asked back with a smile. "Are you suggest I did something?"

"You know what I mean."

"I don't. You have to spell it out." Yukari said. "I can't work with you if you aren't clear." 

"And I'm not on your side! For the last time." Kasen caught herself, realizing that Yukari wanted her to say that. "Fine. I'm talking about how you destroyed the world last time, Yukari, or should I say, the 14th Herrscher of the Previous Era, the Herrscher of the Void. Though I suppose that isn't quite accurate. Perhaps I should address you as the name the outside world knows you by. Honkai."

Yukari merely chuckled, neither confirming or denying the accusation. "And what of it? Is there a problem with it? I never knew you cared so much for humans."

"I don't." Kasen denied. "But if those people knew this information, which quite a few residents of Gensokyo probably already deduced, Gensokyo would come under attack again, and they would stop at nothing. We will survive, but the land won't."

Yukari dropped her smile. "Kasen, do you know why Honkai exists?"

Kasen scoffed. "You may as well ask me if youkai are truly living beings means if we are nothing more than beliefs of the more primitive humans."

Yukari smiled back, and it only made the sinking feeling that Kasen had worse. "I suppose I phrased that wrong. Have you ever heard of the term 'magic is just sufficiently advanced technology'?"

"Of course I do."

"And how does Honkai change with time?" 

"It gets stronger as technology becomes more advanced."

"Now, last question. Where do we live?"

Kasen slammed her nonexistent hand on the table. "I'm not here to play word games with you!"

Yukari merely chucked in face of the outburst. "Now, at our age, what's the fun of taking the more direct route? It's so much more fun to take a few detours." 

"Not with you! For you, you go all the way around the world to get next door!" Kasen groaned in frustration and left the room, unwilling to cope with Yukari to figure out answers.

Ran appeared from the side room. "How will Reimu-san take it when she hears the news?"

"She'll be fine." Yukari reassured. "After all, she never has to find out."

"Additionally, do you plan on leaking to her what your true goal is?" Ran questioned.

"No need. Anyone who I want figuring it out has already figured it out." Yukari answered. "Besides, we still have better things to worry about. I'm not so heartless as to completely abandon humanity." Of course, Ran knew that the truth was she was never on their side to begin with, but that was something that didn't need to be said. "Now then, let's continue our game."

* * *

Theresa could feel the headache coming extremely quickly as she reviewed her resources. The Hyperion was likely only operating at around 80% at best due to damages caused by the Herrscher of the Void. If it weren't for the fact that Reimu and Sakuya were dodging around it, it would likely be higher.

Fu Hua going on to take on the Herrscher of the Void threw a wrench in any plan. Sure, the class monitor was likely stronger than she let on, enough for Otto of all people to give her a 4th generation battlesuit, but how long could she last against that Herrscher, one that she, Siegfried, and Cecilia failed to take down. How much time did they have to take down the other Herrscher? Could they even win?

"Frowning ruins your cuteness." Theresa turned around to find Cecilia walked up to her. "If you aren't careful, you might lose your title of World's Number One Cutest."

"I don't need that title if you're with me." Theresa said back smiling. "As long as you're with me, I'm fine with being an old grandma. Just … don't leave me again."

Cecilia looked down in guilt, knowing the hurt she caused the rest of her family. "I don't know. I know I promised it back then, but given what happened, I don't know if I can do it again."

"Please, just do it. I don't know if I can keep myself together if I lose you again."

"Theresa." Cecilia smiled at her. "You're stronger than that. I know you'll be fine." 

"NO I WON'T!" Theresa cried out. "YOU THINK I WAS ALL GIDDING THESE PAST 15 YEARS? IF IT WEREN'T FOR THE FACT THAT MY BODY REGENERATES BY ITSELF AND KIANA, I WOULD'VE CONSIDERED JUST KILLING MYSELF!" Theresa gasped for air from her outburst. "Sorry about that. I shouldn't have-" Theresa found herself enveloped in a hug by the "older woman".

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it hurt that much." Cecilia stated. "If I had known my death would cause such grief, then-" 

"No! It's not your fault. It's all that bastard Otto's! He was the one who dropped the nukes on you." Theresa argued. Both of them stared at each other, before bursting out in laughter. It was clear that no one on this ship liked the Archbishop at all.

"I see Otto has taken a turn for the worse." Maybe except one. Kallen strolled into the room, ruining what was a rather touching reunion. Additionally, it definitely qualified as an awkward family reunion, given that that Cecilia was married to a Kaslana and Theresa had Kallen's cells. "Part of me has hoped that he wouldn't continue down this dark path."

"You knew Otto?" Cecilia asked as she release Theresa from her grip.

"More like sole friends. I was probably the only one crazy enough to interact with him at the time." Kallen recalled the good times. Ones that were too far gone. "Believe it or not, Otto wasn't always like this. He was a good man, his only goal to better humanity."

"Sounds unlikely." Theresa commented. "What changed?" 

"He … unlocked the 1st God Key, and with it he lost his sense of morality." Kallen explained. "It doesn't matter how many are sacrificed if it accomplishes his goals. I'm afraid there's none of the old him left."

"And we're leaving out the part that he was obsessed with you? Still is?" Theresa questioned. "Serious, with the level he was at, you could say he was a reverse yandere."

"Reverse yandere?" Kallen adopted her pupil-less eye look of absolute confusion.

"Probably something from the manga she reads." Cecilia explained. "Just don't think too hard on it."

"Hey!"

"Still, back on topic, what we will we do now? That Fu Hua girl said she would buy us time, but how should we use it?" Kallen asked, though she withheld the odd feeling that the woman felt awfully familiar, like they've fought each other before.

"Well, first we need to get more support." Theresa brought up a screen of the world map. "We should pay a visit to the main base, see if there's anything we can use and any personnel we can draft into our forces. With two Herrschers active, the world will likely be overrun with Honkai. We're going to need to get everyone we can. Only, I don't think I have the authority, nor do any of our senior members." Theresa was sure she was blacklisted, Cecilia and Kallen were treated as dead, Siegfried left, and Himeko didn't have a good enough reputation, not even counting the authority.

"Well, I can handle that." A familiar voice to Theresa greeted them, which in turn made all three valkyries turn around and make themselves ready for combat.

"How did you get through everyone, Durandal?" Theresa asked. "I don't think most people would allow you to come through without a fight." 

"I didn't." Durandal gestured behind her, where Sakuya had her swords pointed at her and Siegfried had Shamash pointed at her head. "Some people are quite protective." 

"I entertain no illusions that Otto is still be after Kallen." Sakura reasoned.

"Just protecting my wife and sidekick." Siegfriend offered. Theresa was tempted to just throw Oath of Judith at the him that second.

"Well, threats to me aside, let me help you get access to the main HQ." Durandal said, her hand making gripping motions on the missing 6th God Key that she had grown accustomed to.

"How do we know you're not Otto's agent?" Siegfried posed.

"I am." Durandal admitted. "Though he only told me to keep an eye on you guys. He said nothing of me being not allowed to help though. I cannot guarantee that the order will remain the same though."

"Alright then, we'll bring you along then." Theresa decided. "Even if we fight you, we won't come out unscathed, and we need all the help we can get. Besides, you're a friend."

"Thank you for your trust, Theresa."

"Come on, call me Auntie Theresa like you used to."

"This is hardly the time-" Durandal was cut off when the steel wall to the side was cut apart and the material fell to the ground. Everyone turned their weapons that way in preparation.

"Apologies, I could not find the door." From the new hole walked in Youmu. "All I see are walls and more walls. How does anyone live in this place if they cannot get through each room?"

"..."

"Youmu! I told you that the doors are made of metal, and are automatic." Reisen came rushing through as well, exasperated and breathing quite heavily.

"Why would you make a door out of metal? Isn't it heavy?" 

"That's why it's automatic! It uses electricity!" 

"What's that?" Theresa thought Youmu was feigning ignorance, but it seemed that the gardener seriously didn't know what electricity was.

"Look-" A crash sounded out and a slab of metal on the other side of the room flew forward and made its home on the other side of the wall. "Yo! Did I get here first?" Marisa asked.

"..."

Ran followed in after her. "I apologize for her behavior, but trying to stop her from breaking into places and stealing everyone that's not nailed to the ground is like trying to stop Yukari from sleeping through winter."

"You're Yukari servant." Theresa stated.

"Shikigami." Ran corrected, undeterred by the fact that a number of rather powerful weapons were now pointed in her direction. "Perhaps you should let me explain. Contrary to how Yukari-sama acts, she doesn't want humanity destroyed."

"Could've fooled me." Theresa commented.

"Well, it's more like she's not actively trying to destroy it." Ran elaborated. "Some would prefer the outside world remain intact, and the three here are representatives of those people. They will accompany you in your task. Not everyone has Yukari-sama's nonworldly attitude."

"And what are the odds that this may backfire?"

"Depends on Yukari's mood. She might just decide to make your life even worse just to appease her boredom. Do try to entertain her." Ran left by what seemed to be phasing out of reality.

"... I seriously do not understand Gensokyans." Many others agreed with Theresa's statement.

…

"So, let me get this straight." Theresa had to resist frowning. She looked at the moon rabbit. "You're here because your master told you to." 

"Yes."

Then she looked at Youmu. "You're here because your mistress told you to."

"Yes." 

And at last, Marisa. "You're here because you want to steal valuables from Schicksal."

"It's borrowing without asking and a determined return date, get it right." The black-white witch corrected.

"...that's stealing."

"Well, this might make our job a bit easier-"

"Excuse me." Youmu spoke up. "Yuyuko-sama told me to tell you this, that Yukari-sama's apparently not happy with I believe it was 'Archbitchsop' bringing a Herrscher into Gensokyo, so expect the worse." 

"We already have two Herrschers." Theresa argued. "Can it get worse?"

"Well, apparently the other Herrscher was always going to be there, regardless of how things turned out." Youmu said. "Yuyuko-sama said Yukari-sama might bring out more out of spite." 

"So, she can just spawn Herrscher like they're cookies or something?" Theresa asked, though she got no good response from Youmu. "So, we can expect the situation to get even worse. I mean, are we supposed to just expect Herrschers to start popping up out of nowhere? Cause that's what you make it sound like." Youmu held her words, making Theresa groan in her own conclusions. "Don't tell me that's actually the case. If it is, then we're screwed."

"Nah, that's not like Yukari." Marisa reassured. "She wouldn't be so nice. She would probably put it right in our path and ruin any sort of careful planning you made before." 

Theresa was not comforted, but all she could do now was doing what she could to resolve the situation and hope for the best. She did have 3 S-rank valkyries on her side, which should be enough to deal with the situation, she still had Anti-Entropy to worry about, as well as Otto not liking her actions.

The hunger in her stomach that refused to go away was certainly not making things easier, and she could've sworn that Ceclia's neck looked a little too tasty at that moment.


End file.
